Ultimate Crossover: High School Sucks
by LadyMisaga
Summary: Summary: In chaos, there is friendship, in friendship, there is trust, and in young love, there is hope, betrayal and all sorts of drama. High school is generally where we learn all of these things. Mult. Pairings, Yaoi, Het
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and am making no money with this fic. As this is a crossover with well over thirty or so characters owned by others take my word for it, I own only the extra's and possibly five other characters and the plot only.**

**Title: High School Sucks **_**(It truly does)**_

**Rating: T-MA**

**Pairing (s): **_Feel free to guess_**.**

**Series:** My gawd really. **Multiple.**

**Genre: Adventure, Romance, Sci-Fi, Drama, Drama, Drama**

**Warnings:** _All of them lol._ **Violence, language** _(Ed, Duo, Yusuke, Inuyasha, Naruto and many others' fault), oh, and high levels of_ **drama, angst,** _and_ **chaos** _will ensue, believe me._

_A/N: This chapter I would highly consider just a glimpse into these young peoples' lives that were borrowed from many of the Anime's, Manga's, and RPG's I am a fan of. You will find in the following chapter that much is yet to be learned. _

**Part 1-Chapter 1**

The city of dreams, the city that never sleeps, and yet in all the grander it still had but only half of the city now possessed after the machina war many still looked to the city as the place where dreams could come true. What many seemed to forget was that like every city, every location, and every person, dark secrets still lay in the folds of the nicely coveted and idealistically constructed view of the grandest and largest city in all of Spira. Two high schools, both with the most notorious reputations as the best schools around and the public schools where the most promising of students graduated from had completely different crowds of students entering their walls.

For one, in the high standing reaches of the city that mirrored its past grandness many of the students knew nothing of what it was like to fight for your life on a home front behind your own front door. They knew not of the hardships of struggling not only to get by but also to eat that night or survive the night or provide for the only family you had left. They also never had the tragedy of a violent day in the city touch them or anyone they knew for they lived above the ground level of the city that was effected. For those at this acclaimed school life was simple, constant, and boring in comparison to those who attended the only school to rival them.

The other, located on another end of the city, which was very much the opposite in every way life was a struggle at every turn. It wasn't in the run down parts of the city, the slums, or the violence of the streets because of the poverty and desperation. Struggle could be found amongst the middle class living in suburbs where houses looked eerily the same as the next one on every block and on every street of the neighborhood. It was the battlefields in which many had to fight in the places they called homes. The battles fought with the ones they should be able to trust and depend on; or just the battles that had to be fought to survive. Knowing what it was like to have to fight, to have to chose, to win and to lose shaped many of the lives of those in this side of the city and made it so those attending this school were very diverse.

The other two reaches of the city and their schools reflected the first two, one of a ground level living of true living and the other caught in the seams of living a life sheltered and guarded from what one would consider to be real. Without the glass to look through in the southern and eastern parts of this great city those from these reaches of the city also viewed things in a different light siding with those who wished to keep the city standing on its own and outside the world of the temples and Yevonites from the most politically powerful city of Bevelle. The ongoing tension between those in Zanarkand at every point and the religiously run reaches of Spira remained as heated and notorious as it once was. The war that had ensued in the past was what gave birth to how the southern and eastern parts of the city were currently.

Presently the main concerns of the citizens were centered on the ongoing events of the high schools in their part of the city. The single college in the city was often the center of attention. the students attending the high schools was where the people of Zanarkand were able to watch those that would one day become the leaders, celebrities, and powerhouse, independent, politicians the city often produced. Naturally, the focus centered on those located in East Zanarkand and those attending the high school were best known in that part of the city due to how much some of the students' parents made an impact on what was going on throughout Spira.

E.Z. High was not the only high school in the eastern reach of the city; it was merely the best one and the rival school of the prestigious North Zanarkand Private Academy. With such knowledge, it was only common sense that everyone would have their eye on those attending and making their mark at the school. Whether it was through those on the Blitzball team, cheerleaders, academic team members, debate team members, or even just members of the choir, watching those who were well known and obviously possessed talent and intelligence was the pass time of many of the citizens of the city. When the professional Blitzball teams were not going head to head against each other and moving on to compete in the tournament in Luca then the blitzball teams of North and East were more than enough for entertainment.

Saying that the well-known and often watched students of both schools were already treated as celebrities would be a bit much, though many of the citizens viewed them as such from the sidelines. Laws were passed years ago that kept a great deal of the inhabitants of the city from fan mowing the students of either schools as it were. Curfews and laws that were enforced made certain that everyone was allowed to live their lives with some amount of privacy and not be mobbed by fans or kept up all night by phone calls, emails, or other forms of fan service. However, of course, the school website was where many could express their opinions and the students often warned one another away from keeping up with what the website said.

But of course, that is hardly the point of this story. When it comes right down to it no one really cares about how much the citizens may love to treat the students like celebrities. No, the main concern is getting to know why the students are so worshiped as it were and then learning the inside scoop about the students that will never be told by some reporter or fan. So moving along we will go into just who these kids are, what makes their lives so hard to handle, and generally why they have every right to say that High School Sucks, in the most simplistic of terms.

To much was going on all the time for him to keep up with it all, he did well enough to keep up with which job he had to go to and when on most days. Staying in touch with his best friend was an accomplishment thanks to the fact that they both worked the same job at the same time before heading over to the same place to cool off and wind down. It was summer vacation before the start of their junior year in high school and that meant working long hours to save up the money needed to survive the school year and if they made enough save up for the things needed when they finally did get kicked out of the house.

It is with a heavy sigh that the tall, tan, athletic, blond haired, cerulean eyed young man gets to his feet from where he was previously sitting on the dock and turns to regard the houseboats along the docks. He'd grown up here in the family owned houseboat his father had acquired from his days as a famous blitzball player for the Zanarkand Abes, the mainstream, star team that remained the undefeated team within the city. They went to compete in the tournaments every year in Luca even though its' once star player had since retired more than ten years ago. His name was well known throughout the city not just due to his fathers' reputation but one he'd build for himself playing for E.Z. High as the middle fielder for the Varsity team since his freshmen year.

Making Varsity his first year in high school was an accomplishment that required hard work and a grand show of talent and skill but making varsity his first year at the most acclaimed high school in this part of the city was an even greater accomplishment. However, even his love for the sport and his prowess at it wasn't enough to free his mind of stress and worry. Dressed in a pair of black slacks and a yellow muscle shirt with yellow, black, and green steel toe boots he looked more like a construction worker most of the time in his bright colors than a well-known high school celebrity.

His naturally spiky hair helped the tan skin and the color of his eyes stand out when combined with his chosen clothes. On both of his hands were leather gloves meant to protect his hands from the heavy sword he had to wield working as a hunter and to help hide the scars that ran along them from countless fights. One would never guess from this young mans' cheerful, optimistic attitude and often aloof and oblivious act around his peers that he indeed had to fight an endless battle behind the closed door of the boathouse in which he gazed. It was indeed grand and what one would expect from a retired professional blitzball player, white in color with an upper level where two bedrooms and good-sized bathroom were located. Then the lower level with a good-sized living room, decent dining room and kitchen and master bedroom fit with a full bathroom made up the interior. The deck around that was well in size and pristine in comparison to what lay behind the closed doors and curtained windows.

With a shake of his head Tidus Benshi, one of the two sons' of the once famous and now washed out Jecht Benshi turned his gaze to the hill at the end of the docks that would lead to the paved parking lot where his own run down, rusted, used, green jeep was parked. Going to work was the last thing he wanted to do after having been up all night helping at the diner he had frequently spent the majority of his youth at but he needed the paycheck to pay for the very jeep parked in the parking lot. Gas and insurance were not cheap and neither were the bills his father had decided he and his brother had to pay now they were old enough to work.

He checked his pockets for his wallet, keys, and phone before he put his hands in his front pockets and made his way towards the lot. The only good thing about the job he was headed to right now was that he could walk there if he needed to, it was only about two miles down the road from where he was at another set of docks. The meeting place for all the hunters was actually a run down boathouse fit with lockers inside of it where their uniform shirts were stored. Their weapons were stored on the actual air ship that picked them up and brought them back when their shifts were over. At times teams were sent to what every called Hunter's Isle to fight off powerful fiends, shadows, or whatever other threats lurked there and most times, they were just dropped off along the other boarders of the city to protect it. They never worked the boarders of their own parts of the city since it may hinder their judgment and they might get emotional if anything got out of hand.

The way Zanarkand was as far as the actual layout of the island was that it was one large mass of land with four focal points. Nevertheless, reaching out from those four points were smaller, arm structured parts of land that were like sand dunes but more of it was above water than not. Those points were the boarders where fiends and other threats frequented to try to breach the city. Sure, they had soldiers that guarded the entry gates along the actual boarders where citizens actually lived but the hunters helped them out by lowering the number of threats that approached those gates and walls.

If not for the war, one thousand years ago and the constant tension from the Yevonite and Bevelle then the walls wouldn't even be up regardless of the threats, they had their own military and plenty of the kids sixteen and up throughout the city were taught in school how to fight fiends so no one was actually helpless. However, because of the history of the city and the too many narrow escapes of it being demolished and the flow of nearly constant travelers wanting to live in the city called for some control of who could live in the city and the extra security. It was not that bad really, considering the new security measures did provide jobs for retired soldiers, adrenaline junky adults and teenagers, and kids who could always use the extra help sharpening their senses and learning to fight. In addition, it was great for unleashing some pent up frustration and anger in his opinion.

Glancing at his watch on his right wrist he shrugged and decided he would walk to work, he could be there and not be late walking. Moreover, his best friend had no doubt caught the bus to this side of town and would meet him there. After work they would head to the diner and chill out and probably end up suckered in to doing the boring paperwork side of the secret organization the owner of their favorite diner had set up to help kids like themselves or just hard up kids period. This organization he referred to was known by its members and founders as Zones. Basically a bunch of kids who lived with abusive parents, were orphans, or just had really stressful or hard lives got together on Sundays to vent, learn, and well be reminded that they weren't alone in whatever it was they had to deal with.

Knowing you were not alone in dealing with a violent, abusive, washed out, drunk father who proved to you when you were a kid that he could be homicidal, sadistic, and fucked up enough to kill your mom in front of you really helped with the coping thing. His best friend had witnessed the same thing and thanks to the 'celebrity' status and all the power that came with it as well as the fact that both of their fathers were rather liked by the cops, the politicians, and the general public meant no amount of prosecution or confession proved enough to put their asses behind bars. Therefore, as he and his own brother did his best friend and his younger brother had to deal with living with their fathers even after the bastards killed their moms in cold blood and nearly killed them at the same time.

Then there was also the point that not only did he have that in common with his best friend both of them also seemed to be the one their fathers' zeroed in on when they were angry. While his older brother was often times left alone and even praised now and then by his old man when it came to Ed it was his younger brother Al that was treated like an actual human being. Did they resent their brothers' for their fathers' obvious favoritism? No, not a chance in the world they did, reason why had to do with the fact that they knew the truth behind that. Their fathers only messed with one of their sons' because that way the public wouldn't believe them if either of them decided to take the chance of saying something to anyone that might actually make the assholes pay.

Blinking out of his thoughts at the familiar sound of his cell phone ringing he dug it free of his pocket and flipped the black flip phone open to answer with a grin and what his best friend called his annoying greeting; "Yo, whats' up?"

"One day our boss is going to call you and fire you for that greeting and I am going to laugh."

"No he won't," he replied with a laugh, "because I pay attention to who is calling before I answer."

"Did you decide to walk to work?"

"Yeah," he raised an eyebrow despite the fact that the other blond on the phone couldn't see it before asking dubiously, "Why?"

"Because at your pace I am still going to beat you there," he turned and looked behind him at his friend's words to see the bus coming up the road behind him. He laughed and then smirked before he said, "you won't if you don't jump out and run on your own two feet," then he closed his phone, put it back in his pocket and took off at a sprint with a laugh. He could feel the glare on his back as he ran the remaining mile to the docks and heard the heavy footsteps of his friends' booted feet coming up behind him not but a few seconds after his own boots hit the wooden planks of the docks leading to the boathouse near the shoreline.

His best friend stood next to him inside the rundown boathouse with a familiar smirk on his face before the two laughed at their own childish antics. Now the shorter but tougher and considerably smarter blond stood out even more than Tidus himself did. The gait to his walk was due to the heavy automail that made up his left leg and the way the weight of the right automail arm through off his balance when compared to that of someone without the replacement limbs. In the time since the two of them had worked for the cash it cost for the more sophisticated and durable prosthetic limbs the shorter blond had adapted and made up for the loss of his limbs. Nevertheless, he still hid their existence behind long sleeves, gloves, and pants not wanting others to see the scars of the fact that they were there.

His longer blond hair was golden rather than sun kissed and always tied back in a braid. He also hardly wore anything other than black leather pants with a black tank top and a black long sleeved shirt over that which really only made his hair color and his unique golden eyes stand out even more. He wasn't as tan as his taller friend was but he wasn't pale either. The skin tone he had was definitely closer to sun kissed and actually a natural tan that had only darkened over the year and a half of working as a hunter. You had to look close to see the freckles along his cheeks and the bridge of his nose but neither of them ever looked quite that closely at one another.

Now that they finally made it to their destination, they had at least half an hour to kill before the other hunters arrived and then another twenty before the airship arrived to take them to their assigned destinations. As one made his way to the locker to find his work shirt the other pulled out his own silver flip phone from his left back pocket and dialed the phone number for one of the duo that he knew was working the same shift and had better head here or start running before they were late. As the Night Crew Leader, or so his boss had called it, he had to make sure every member of the night crew showed up on time.

He scowled at the water in front of him when after four rings he still hadn't gotten an answer, hung up and called the other number knowing that either one of the two he was trying to get in touch with would be around the other. These two were best friends and while he knew he could usually count on one of them showing up on time when they didn't work the same shift, the pair hanging out together often forgot they had to be at work. After the third ring, he finally got an answer and all but growled into the phone, "You two better be headed this way."

"Chill Ed, we are, I drug him on the bus not ten minutes ago."

"Why did it take you so long to answer the phone then," he replied to the other. Older or not these two idiots got into more than enough trouble just walking through their neighborhood without pissing off their boss who ran and funded what the hunters did. Thinking about the last time these two had shown up late and how he was the one lectured was enough to set his teeth on edge about being made the damn Crew Leader. Why throw more responsibility on him when these two idiots had worked for the guy longer than him, because they pulled shit like being twenty minutes to an hour late once every three months or so, more frequently during the summer than not. The only reason they still had their jobs was because they were so good at it and happened to be willing to work past curfew despite the trouble they could get into if they were caught being anywhere but at home past curfew.

"I would much rather cuss out the local bum than-"

He pulled the phone away from his ear due to the shouting of someone into the phone before he heard the laughter of several people he could guess at following that. When the others' voice came back on the line, he continued scowling wishing he could punch the guy for making him nearly go deaf from his antics.

"We will be there in fifteen so don't worry about it."

"Whatever Yusuke, if our boss ever bitches me out about what you and Duo do again I'm recording it and making you two listen to it for hours on end."

There was laughter then, "Yeah, I get it, the only reason we've been on time lately is 'cause we actually thought you were a decent guy. But such threats might make us change our minds."

He growled which caused more laughter on the other end and hung up the phone before shoving it into his pocket. He wasn't cut out for this 'management, crew leader' crap. He'd rather just go back to working as a bus boy or waiter or even a cook at Ella's diner. But the pay as a hunter was better and the hours were pretty decent when you didn't count having to pull doubles during the summer like he had to do today. The shifts were already ten hours and pulling a double meant twenty with a two hour break between the ten hours that he hardly ever got to actually rest during because he was too often assigned to the clean up crew at the end of the shifts. But the extra two hundred gil an hour almost made it worth it, he needed it to save up for the motorcycle he'd talked a guy into holding onto for him with about ten thousand gil. He only needed another five thousand before he had all the money he needed to pay for it and then he could focus on setting back money to pay for the gas, insurance, and getting the hell out of his fathers' house after he graduated from high school.

Maybe all of them could just move into Ella's or something when they graduated until they found places of their own, hell he knew more than enough of the seniors that had graduated this past school year did that before they went along with the roommate idea to pay the rent and bills. Why the hell those three didn't take on working as hunters, which was better pay even if it happens to be the most dangerous job around other than being in the military or a cop, was beyond him. At least one of the guys that had graduated was smart enough to stay with his job as a hunter, but he also had to keep his job as the night manager at Ella's diner on top of being a Team Leader for the hunters during the day shift.

When that guy ever got any sleep he had no idea. It gave him a headache thinking about all the people he knew because of his involvement in Zones, further influenced by his best friends' involvement, and then of course by that same friends' persistence to help out as much as they could. Not that he wouldn't have done that without the prompting but now they were the ones the older woman who was very much like an older sister and the among the few adults they all trusted turned to when things got bad. They didn't just stick together to tell each others' stories, have some feeling of comradeship in knowing they weren't the only ones' whose lives sucked, or to learn to better defend themselves and get some tutoring to keep up with school with such crappy, hectic, stressful lives on their shoulders, the group was also the reason a lot of them were still around.

The diner was the meeting point they ended up at when things got too rough or too dangerous, when one of them was so beaten up they could hardly move or see they went to the diner. When one of them felt like they couldn't take it anymore and was ready to just shoot their damn parents or whoever made their lives a living hell they went to the diner. It was a refuge, a sanctuary, the only safe ground they had and only place they knew they could go to get a moment to breath, to revamp, and remember why the fuck they couldn't just leave or escape and had to keep going back. A lot of them knew they wouldn't be believed, then there were the ones that couldn't leave because they had siblings protect and worried about someone finding out and charges being brought up and then that leading to separation from the only family they had.

Everyone had their own story, their own hellish life to survive, and they had one another and the adults that ran Zones, looked after them, nursed them back to help, kicked them in the ass when they needed to remember they couldn't give up, and kept them from getting killed. They all had one anothers' phone numbers, had code names, knew the phrases to be said out in public to keep things under wraps. And each and every one of them depended on and looked to one another to keep them going and keep reminding them that it wouldn't last forever and that they would get out and had to keep going because someone did care and damn it they weren't the only ones dealing with this shit.

He sighed and brought his left hand absently up to his face to fun through his bangs only to wince at the sting that ran up his arm and shot through to his shoulder reminding him of the still healing gash along his forearm from the last glass bottle that was broken over his arm and nearly broke it. The brusing was still healing and made his arm even more sore in combination with the gash that he'd stitched himself so he could go to work that night. It was only about three days old so of course it hadn't healed yet, it wouldn't for a while and he refused the magical healing from Ella because he didn't much care from being healed through magic, which he didn't get at all, because it just felt weird. He didn't like scars but he had more than enough to not much care about adding one more.

"Got a lot on the mind or somethin'," his best friend said suddenly making him blink and look at him standing across the way on the other end of the ramp. With a shrug he replied, "Yeah, happens to those of us with brain cells."

He smirked at the glare before heading for the lockers to dig out his shirt and thoughtlessly pulling the black shirt he was currently wearing over his head and tossing it into the locker before pulling on the other black shirt he'd earned over the course of the last two months of working doubles and another more vigorous set of 'tests' that pushed even his skills with alchemy and his experience as a hunter to the limit. He would be turning seventeen in little more than four months from now and since he had turned sixteen he'd worked as a hunter mostly with the ambition his best friend had, to get the hell out of the home in which they lived.

He slammed his locker door shut and pulled his braid out of the back of his shirt as he found himself lost in his thoughts about all that had happened over this past summer. It was already hard enough being a teenager, hormones, emotions, sorting through what you wanted to do with the rest of your life, it was enough to give him a headache thinking about it all. But this past summer had certainly been the icing on the cake as far as stress was concerned. Not really wanting to think about that and how it still made his chest feel hollow and his heart felt tattered and in pieces he turned back to regard his best friend just as voices of the other hunters echoed in the mostly empty and run down boathouse.

"Geeze, we should really fix this place up, add a radio or something so at least its not so damn quiet in her," the brunette with his braided hair and his black slacks that looked worn out and as though they'd been through hell. Well in this line of work that was hardly unexpected, golden eyes met violet ones for a moment before a grin spread across the elders' face.

"Yo, Ed, my man, you should put a word in about my being promoted or somethin' dude."

With a snort the shorter blond turned away from the other and his friend just as a few others made their way into the boat house. He knew without having to look who was scheduled to work tonight, one of their very few female hunters, who was often times teamed up with one of the older hunters known simply as Gaya who held a day job at the diner much like his own best friend did, had the night off. He couldn't help but wonder how the two of them could do it, working almost eighteen hours a day no less than five days a week was something he didn't think he could do regardless of how much he needed the money to break free from his father.

With less than five minutes to go before the airship arrived to pick them up and take them to their assigned destinations he finally turned to regard everyone gathered around him. There were really only six of them present with one having the night off, but others hunters from other areas of the city would be dropped off in the east reach while all of them were spread out through the other reaches of the city. In all he knew there were at least fifty hunters on duty every shift with no less than five apprentice summoners or healers spread out in areas where they could get to the minimum of six hunters at a time. The groups were never larger than five and only those dawning the black shirt he was currently wearing were ever sent out on their own.

Glancing at everyone around him he smirked at the haughty glare he received from an older white haired young man. That was Gaya, starkly pale blue eyes, pale skin, the same height as himself, who was mouthy on a good day and greatly annoyed all the time. He was among the few to climb the ranks of hunters in a short period of time having just taken on a job as a hunter over the summer after he'd graduated from E.Z. High. One of the most experienced hunters in their small group happened to be the elder brother of his academic team comrade Sasuke, though the elder Uchiha was definitely less controlled at times with a short fuse that made it impossible for him to work with the other.

He did admire his skill having seen it in action, although brash, brutal, and based on brute strength instead of strategy it was easy to notice that he was just as deadly as those of the Uchiha clan were acclaimed to be. Most of the time he acted indifferent and highly annoyed with the world in a rude way that was the opposite of his younger brothers' stoic indifference and the cutting edge to his words when he finally said something. Dark brown eyes narrowed at him challengingly to which he returned the glare smirking when a thought came to him in regards to the lose way the other wore their dark hair instead of braiding it or tying it back. The red shirt was not from lack of skill merely lack of wanting to go through the trials required to get the black shirt Ed wore.

He was younger than both Inuyasha and Gaya and yet he outranked them both and had less experience than the Uchiha did. But his willingness to go through what one had to endure to acquire the black shirt rank was more driven by his needing to know the dark secret the founder of the hunters was hiding and needing to find answers to questions he could never voice aloud. Pulling himself out of those thoughts he turned towards the water just as the sounds of an approaching airship made its way towards them. It was going to be a long night and an even longer morning. He couldn't help but think back on what Duo had said about him putting a word in to have the other promoted and how that brought up thoughts of why he'd accepted their employers' demand to have him go through the program. It was that or lose his job after he'd missed nearly a week of work too lost in a world of grief and despair to care much and he still found himself trapped in such a place from time to time.

To say the diner was slow would be a contradiction, it was packed, the bowling alley was full, the bar was packed and filled with smoke so thick a non-smoker could cough up a lung if they walked inside, and the diner was so packed their was a line outside where customers had to wait for tables to open up. They were given drinks and most of the ones waiting for a space to open up seemed content to wait outside and talk amongst themselves. Her feet were killing her from having to skip her break because of how busy they were and after being on her feet for nearly five hours straight she was working on pure adrenaline now. Sure, she was used to this job having worked in this diner before she was even legally allowed to, she wasn't even legally supposed to be working here right now and certainly not past one in the morning. Here she was, the summer before her freshmen year, six months before her fifteenth birthday, waiting tables at the only place that felt like a real home to her.

It was another hour before she managed to have a table open up in her section and she headed to wear the hostess was working, she happened to be the girlfriend of one of E.Z. High's acclaimed blitzball team, also her boyfriend and her would be seniors this year and also captains of their respective sports. She was a cheerleader and member of the honor choir, President of the Choir, and her boyfriend would be Captain of E.Z. High Blitzball team for his second year this coming up school year. They still had at least five weeks left in summer vacation for which she was grateful. The reason the older young woman was only a hostess and not waiting tables was because it had become too busy when the shift started and she had only taken on this job two days ago, hardly long enough to handle this massive a crowd regardless of the fact that the other was working at a particularly busy coffee shop before she'd applied here.

"Lenne, I have one table open, booth," she said as she came within hearing distance. The older girl turned to her with a nod, her ponytail sliding down her back as she turned back to look outside at the waiting line of young adults. She said just before stepping over to the door, "I have a group of four out here but the group of six has been waiting longer."

Misaga took in a deep breath, her slight figure showed her true age while her confidence when it came to this job made people realize she knew what she was doing and was more than capable of carrying the heavy trays of food even for a family of seven without any help. Her hair was tied back in a braid that was in thus curled into a bun to keep her hair out of her face and from being grabbed, she'd had a drunk customer actually grab her hair once and hadn't stopped her brother Duo from threatening to castrate the older man for his actions. The red polo and black slacks they had to wear she was grateful for, at least she didn't have to wear a skirt, yet anyway. The bartenders and those on the floor in the bar had to wear skirts and red tank tops, she was still feeling apprehensive about Ella asking her if she would be willing to work the bar once she was sixteen since she was more than capable given her waitressing talents.

"I'll take the six, Momo should have an open table soon as well," she emphasized her words by glancing towards the older brunette who was cleaning off her table and smiling to her family of five as they made their leave. Lenne nodded once and stepped through the door holding it open for the leaving customers with a smile and a kind wish of goodnight and be careful's to make the customers smile in kind. She turned and made her way back towards her section to make the rounds and check on her customers. She had ten tables in all tonight and while she usually had fifteen on slower nights she also had a break every four hours. None of them, only the cooks who had to take breaks every three hours or they would get too hot and really fall out, had a decent break.

She took orders for desert on her second round after clearing empty plates and refilling drinks and handed the orders over to Max who worked nearly every night now since Tidus had a job as a hunter at night now. She missed Tidus, while Max was definitely more than experience the other two cooks they had couldn't compare to the prowess of the kitchen when Max and Tidus were running it, with Aeriel as the backup with Tidus to mostly prepare the cold foods like salads, slice bread, or dress the hamburgers and plates. Now the other girl was all out cooking because the cook from day shift that was switched to nights, Logan, couldn't keep up with the orders and dish them out as quickly as Tidus could.

They'd also hired more waiters and waitresses, friends of Duo and Yusuke's to make up for Gaya and Tidus moving over to work days instead of nights. Days were busy sure, but nights, especially summer nights were crazy. She took drink orders for her table of six and delivered their drinks to take orders for entres and side dishes before going into the kitchen to make the side orders. They had to make the nachos, the chips and dips, the side salads, and any other of the many assorted appetizers since the kitchen had more than enough to do with the actual meals. Working mechanically from over a year of doing this she made the orders without consulting the ticket she'd written down as she'd pocketed her ticket book and could memorize orders from larger groups but wrote down the orders for the sake of the kitchen anyway.

Carrying the medium sized tray out of the kitchen she deftly turned raising the tray above her head just in time to avoid Mace, one of the newer waiters working here who jumped back colliding with the counter sharply enough to make her wince when he did to avoid a disastrous collision. She nodded with a smile, "Sorry," then made her way towards her table to hand out the smaller orders. Refilling drinks, making another round, then returning to take the orders from her new table she headed back to the kitchen to take out the deserts of pastries, cakes, and sundaes having to return at least three times to get all the orders before she made the rounds once more and headed to the kitchen to lean back against the door leading to the office and take a breather.

Grabbing her now luke warm bottled water she drank half of it quickly before she took a deep breath and made her way over to the sink to wash her hands and face and grabbed a clean bus towel to dry off with. She wanted nothing more than to sit down and eat and let her hair down for just a little while, her head was already pounding and her feet ached fiercely pronouncing the pounding in her head. She must be coming down with something, she felt oddly weaker than she should even staying on her feet for six hours straight. She jumped when a hand gently touched her shoulder and looked up to see the concerned face of Ella.

"Misa, are you alright?"

She tried to force a reassuring smile but failed considering the look in the older woman's eyes. Ella was of average height, burgundy hair she wore in a braid most of the time and that braid was turned into a bun on the nights she worked, like now. She also wore the same red polo shirt and black slacks and tennis shoes she required her employees working the diner to wear and her eyes changed colors with her moods. Right now they were a deep, dark blue, which meant she was upset. She couldn't begin to what could be upsetting the older woman considering the countless possibilities.

"You need to take a break, every single one of you need a break," the older woman said with a look around at the bustling kitchen. With that her gaze turned back to her youngest employee, "I want you to go into the office and lay down before you fall down," when she made to protest that she had customers the older woman cut her off before she could say a word, "that wasn't a request Misaga."

With that the older woman turned to regard her brother and Aeriel who were working quickly despite the exhaustion that was obvious in the way their expressions were drawn; "Both of you go with Misa into the office. That's not a request, I will take care of the customers outside, more than enough of those brats out there have worked for me once before and owe me favors."

"Ella, they come here to eat, not work."

"Yes, but too bad. Those on the floor have been going non-stop for six hours, not one of them has had a proper break, proper meal, or rested. My cooks are going on empty and even the rest of this place is in the same condition."

"I told you we should have opened a second place on the other end of town."

"And let you run it, I know, unfortunately losing the cook that was the best one to replace you to the Hunters' pay threw a wrench in that plan. Please just help me round these kids up and get them to stop and breath for a minute before they all fall out from pure exhaustion."

"Fine," the older man said with a sigh, his long brown hair was slick with sweat from cooking and it was a wonder his face wasn't covered in pimples and acne from all the grease cooking entailed. Unlike the rest of the workers he wore a black T-shift with black shorts that came two inches past his knees with black boots. That further reminded her of when the younger of the Benshi brothers had worked nights with her and the rest of the usual night crew. He never wore the uniform, having worked at the diner even before she had and having started when he was twelve as a bus boy, moving up to waiter, then going on to be a cook when he was fifteen and the owners, Max and Ella, deciding he would be the best one to manage and run the kitchens at this diner should Max open up another diner like it in South Zanarkand like he wanted.

Max was taller by at least three inches than his older sister, his long hair reached the middle of his back when he wore it down, and his blue eyes were always dark, like the ocean at midday. His eyes didn't change colors like his sisters' did but there was much hidden in the depths. He was also the more laid back, although more sarcastic and less sympathetic of the owners. Everyone that worked here or were otherwise associated with Max, his sister, and his sister-in-law Genelle, looked up to and admired the three. It had a lot to do with the fact that not only did they have the best food in the city, they had an adjoined arcade and bowling alley to appease the teenagers who frequented the diner, and they had a bar attatched for the adults who wanted to come and relax after a hard day.

The majority of the customers had either worked her once before or were former Zones' members so they were not only loyal customers but loyal to the three inspirational owners. The three taught all of them how to have pride in themselves and pride in whatever work they did because at least they were doing something. They also made everyone that came to them feel as though they were part of a larger family and for some that meant everything because a lot of them had no families at all or no idea what a real family was supposed to be like. She watched lost in her own thoughts as the two walked out of the kitchen and offered a distracted smile to the older, silent, red haired girl as she motioned towards the door leading to the office and the bunk room.

Behind that door was a world completely hidden from everyone that wasn't a direct part of it. In the office were medical files, personal files, school files, on every one of the kids Ella and her family had ever helped or were currently helping. Not only that, but the cabinet behind the desk was where medical supplies were for times when someone was injured, and then the bunk room where each of them had lockers and where there were enough beds to accommodate every one of the kids Ella helped. Not only was this place a place to come for a job when you needed the money but weren't quite old enough to work, or simply just because you needed the money to support yourself or help in supporting your family, it was a sanctuary. She could come here and know she was safe from harm, her father couldn't reach her here and no one who came to this place would ever hurt her.

As she sat down heavily on the couch to her left of the desk she could feel the exhaustion weighing heavily on her in that moment of relaxation. The silent older girl sat down letting out a contented smile that caused a giggle to rise in her own throat. The soft smile she received in return made a smile curl her own lips, Aeriel wasn't a rude girl, she was mute which was why she didn't talk. If not for her time working with her she would have never learned to speak sign language, though often times it seemed as though her and Tidus could communicate without the needs for signs. There were certain sounds the other could make, a small but quaint hum in the back of her throat, a hiss of air between her teeth, and she could whistle.

She wished the other could speak, could laugh, could express her emotions through sound but in a ironically silent way the other seemed to have come to terms with the loss of her voice. She didn't know what had caused the pale, blue eyed, kind young woman to lose her voice but at times the shadow that would cast over her eyes when she thought no one was watching had made her realize that it was not a pleasant experience. It could well have been violent, as many of them seemed to have that fate in common that led them to this place. All that she knew was that the other had no family known to her or anyone else, that she lost her voice before she arrived and met Ella and her family, and that she had graduated from high school three years ago but didn't want to leave the diner behind obviously since she was still here.

The two of them looked up when the footsteps of others came into the room, Maxi, Mace, and Lenne were ushered into the room with Max behind them telling them to sit down. Lenne took a seat next to her when the two girls moved over to make room for her. Her brothers' friends, both with pale complexions, dyed dark hair, and looking as exhausted as she definitely felt sat down on the couch in front of the desk heavily with long sighs. Before long Momo, Shezka, and Logan came to join them filling up what little couch space was left. When Ella came back into the room she stopped in the doorway to say to her brother; "Make them all eat and rest for at least an hour, I'll get the rest of the staff to take a breather outside for a bit."

"This is the first time you've called in ex-employees to cover so many shifts at once."

"This is the first time it's been this insane here, not even the bowling alley was spared this crowd."

"It's the summer, what else did you expect?"

"Yeah, well Gen' needs to come back soon before I go insane, or we all do."

Max smirked, "You're just missing your wife."

"Of course I do, I had some of my best employees take nights off on me at the worst time of year. You need to knock some sense into those two."

"Maybe you should call in a favor and have them switched to days-"

"Can't not with how that bastard works the hunters," Ella said with a glare before letting out a tired sigh, "Rest, eat something, and stay in here for an hour. Not one of you better be on your feet or on my floor until eleven thirty. Hopefully it will calm down by then."

"How're we supposed to eat if we have to stay off our feet sis?"

Her glared darkened and Misa had a hard time stifling her giggle as the older woman answered, "I ordered pizza twenty minutes ago. You can get up to answer the damn door and pay for the foor with the money in my drawer. But that's it."

"What am I, a child?"

"More often than not," she replied to her brothers' sarcastic question with a smirk. She closed the door and it was locked behind her before her brother turned to the door, sighed, pulled the hairnet off to let his tied back hair breath a bit, then took residence in the chair behind the desk. Nights were generally long, and generally over by about two in the morning when it was really slow after the midnight rush, which tonight was blended with the dinner rush that was how busy they were tonight. Even though she worked the four to two shift more often than anything this was the first time she'd worked an entire six hours without one break to eat or sit down or just catch her breath. Glancing at the others around her they all looked tired and more than ready to call it a night, even Max looked purely worn out and he and his sister and sister-in-law had owned this diner and run it for well over fifteen or so years now.

It was remarkable how old the three owners were in comparison to the early twenty appearance they all had. She was merely told it was a curse not a blessing and told to drop the subject. While all of them had to come clean about their home lives, troubles, and nightmares at the Sunday meetings information was being withheld from them about their guardians, that seemed to be the most fitting title for the three, guardians. They did that to the best of their abilities, while they couldn't stop the violence from happening they ensure that all of them survived and kept on going, kept trying, kept believing one day they could escape and have their own lives. They gave them a place to come to when it all seemed to become too much or just when they needed somewhere safe to stay. She was pretty sure every one of those in Zones would rather just live here, in the bunk room at the back part of the diner that was off limits to all who were not involved in Zones or with the three in some way, but they couldn't because of the laws and the trouble it may very well cause.

In this grand city those who were abused were more afraid of the places they could be sent to or that they would be separated from what little family and friends they had around them to speak up about what went on at home. None of them were foolish enough to believe they would simply be sent to the orphanages' throughout Zanarkand or that they couldn't or wouldn't be sent to the farthest reaches of Spira. It was something those of famous, powerful, aristocratic families feared because coming clean meant giving up everything because they would have to be sent away for their own 'safety.' Those were were deemed as impoverished with parents who never stood out and could be discarded to prison without repercussions from their fans, followers, or comrades were more often than not sent to Djose, a rumored temple where Yevonites believed and practiced slavery; Bevelle, a religiously run city with more regulations and rules than there were waters in Spira. They were under strict religious rule with strict military rule to back up and uphold the religious, Yevon based, laws.

There were also the islands, Kilika and Besaid which were without a doubt behind the times and followed the teachings of Yevon strictly. Then there was also the possibility of being sent to Bikanel, which wasn't all that bad considering that those from Zanarkand were liked and well received by Al Bhed because the two were known allies who viewed Bevelle and the teachings of Yevon realistically in her mind. Reading history books had and being able to think on her own had taught her to question everything and there were gaps and discrepancies in what those who worshiped Yevon told of the past and what she learned from the signs all around her in her own city.

When a knock at the back door came she jumped from the sudden way she launched herself from her thoughts with the instinctual reaction due to her father. Too many times he would bang and kick and sometimes knock lightly on her door or that of her brothers' to rouse them. He would switch back and forth when it came to her how he would address her. At times he was kind, despite it being the middle of the night school or not, and would make her believe he was a good person, could be a good father if only he didn't drink so much, but at those times if she slipped up even once and said something he didn't like he was more vicious and violent than on his louder, ruder nights. She preferred to have him bang and kick and beat on the doors, preferred he yelled and cussed, and forced his way through her door despite the dead bolt and the chain lock Duo had put on her door.

Now those new locks gave her older brother the warning he needed to jump to her aid but during the summer, like now, when he didn't get off until three in the morning and with Heero working a second job even after spending ten hours working the day shift as a hunter, she didn't bother returning home unless she absolutely had to. Most of them would spend a great deal of their summer vacations here at the diner in the bunk room, but they could only stay a week at a time before they had to spend a few days at home because otherwise the law would step in and create problems for Ella. She sympathized with the Elrics, Benshi's, and Uzumaki's simply because their parents could and would call and cause problems if they decided they missed abusing and degrading their children and wanted them home.

As her stomach rumbled its hunger she decided it was best to ignore the thoughts about all that had transpired in the last few months to give in to her hunger. She still had an hour, possibly two considering the work it took to clean tables, dishes, restock everything, clean the floors, split up between a handful of them did little to lessen the task it was still hard work and she couldn't force herself to go on much more without food. She smiled at the aroma and sight of the pepperoni pizza and the soda's next to the boxes of pizza. Grabbing a plate as she stood in front of the desk with the others as soon as Max set them down she also grabbed a soda and then took three slices deciding she would get more if she could eat what she had. It was a bit humbling that such a simple thing as food and a cold drink and a place to sit could make her feel like a queen at the moment.

"Rose this is ridiculous, you can't work yourself to the bone and then simply ignore all of us when you are home," her mother said from the other side of the door. The young woman of sixteen with a medium beige complexion, waist length brown hair, and dyed pink bangs found it darkly amusing her mother was expressing such concern for her right now considering their history. Her mother's words were beyond ironic to her in the sense that her mother was being entirely hypocritical. On top of that, such concern was a farce at best; never would she believe her mother or father truly felt such concern over her well being or happiness. Not after all that had happened and after the way both had acted after what she considered the darkest time of her young life.

* * *

_A/N: This story is huge, just a heads up. It is so large of a story and a project of sorts for me that it is actually in four parts and each part has a considerable amount of chapters to it. So far Part 1 alone is going to be eighteen or nineteen chapters. Well thanks for reading, hopefully the length won't scare you away._


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and am making no money with this fic. As this is a crossover with well over thirty or so characters owned by others take my word for it, I own only the extra's and possibly five other characters and the plot only.**

_**Warning: Some violence concepts and mentions of extreme violence are in this chapter. Read at your own discretion. Heed the rating, read at your own risk. This story is rated MA for good reason and that will be clarified in later chapters.**_

_A/N: This chapter is completely a flashback because I am an idiot and wanted to show you how our two main characters met one another and became friends. _

**Part 1 Chapter 2**

_Nine Years Ago . . . _

Ed, Al, and Hoenheim Elric were moving things from a truck into the house. There were a few movers there to help move the furniture. It had taken six months to move from Bevelle to Zanarkand due to Ed's hospitalization. The elder Elric son was wearing a black, long sleeved shirt with baggy black pants. His shoulder length blond hair hung loosely and he made sure it covered the swollen, purple left eye he had from his father. The younger Elric son had a smile on his face, being only six years old he believed his brother's story about a friend from school being angry he was leaving and hitting him.

Ed carried his heavy box of books up to his room upstairs, refusing to let one of the movers carry any of his possessions in case of repercussions from his father. He made sure to help Al carry the heavier boxes he had, but didn't protest if the movers took those from him. His father had yet to allow Al to catch on to his darker side.

It was nightfall by the time they had everything moved into the house. Ed stood in the kitchen trying to unpack everything as his father had instructed as his father stood in the doorway to the front door with a hand on Al's shoulder talking to the movers, thanking them for their help, then paying them with a cheerful goodbye.

The door wasn't slammed shut and there was still a kind tone in his voice as he told Al to go up to his room and unpack what he could for the night. Ed listened with his heart racing as Al ran up to his room and closed the door. He tensed and focused on the task at hand even while dread filled him at his father's approaching footsteps.

He didn't look up when the footsteps stopped in the doorway to the kitchen. He continued to carefully, and as quietly as he could, put away the dishes in the exact places his father had instructed. His hands trembled beyond his control when he heard his father walk towards him. He swallowed and held his breath when he felt his father looming over him.

He bit his lip to stifle his yell when he was suddenly grabbed by a fist in his hair. He held onto the glass bowls in his hands, but refused to meet the eyes boring into him.

''You best hurry up boy; I will give you five more minutes to finish the kitchen. Then you can cook dinner.''

Ed tensed and said softly, fear evident in his voice, ''I don't know how to cook.''

His hair was let go only so he could be shoved against the counter painfully, he miraculously didn't drop the dishes in his hand. Then his chin was grabbed painfully and he was forced to look at his father, though refused to meet his eyes.

''I suggest you learn quickly,'' he spat viciously before releasing him. Then he turned and walked into the living room. Ed let out a shaky breath and nearly dropped the bowls in his hands when he dared to move. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths and then set to his task. Once all the dishes were put up neatly, and in the amount of time he was given, he opened the refrigerator and looked inside. They only had sandwich fixings, milk, butter, and hot dogs fixings.

He took a deep breath and closed the door then silently walked into the living room. He saw his father lounging on the couch facing the fireplace, a few boxes next to it. The inn table had a lamp on it that lit the dark room dimly, there was a fire burning in the fireplace. There were also a few bottles of whisky, crown, and tequila on the marble shelf over the fireplace. There was a haunting atmosphere in the room that made Ed shake and ball his hands into fists at his side.

He sighed and flinched when his father looked over his shoulder at him. Hoenheim glared at him, ''Just make the hot dogs you useless boy. I know I didn't get anything else to cook. Make sure you cook some chili.''

Ed nodded, ''Yes sir,'' he said weakly and turned to leave. He stopped just before entering the kitchen through the side door.

''I didn't hear you boy.''

Ed took a deep breath and said in a clear voice, ''Yes sir.''

''Good, now hurry up.''

Ed walked briskly back into the kitchen and took out one package of hot dogs from the fridge. He closed the door and looked at the cabinet where the pots and pans were for a moment. He remembered Will telling him that chili and hot dogs only needed a pot and hot water to cook. It was simple. He took out two pots, both relatively small. He filled one with water and set it on the stove then took a can of chili from the pantry next to the stove. He managed to open it without much difficulty using a hand held can opener.

He fumbled a bit with opening the hot dogs, he was still getting used to using his left hand now that his right one was fake. He was still sore from the stiffness of his fake limbs. They were made of cheap metal and plastic, something his father had made himself. It had been bad enough that the first eight years of his life, he was always sick, but now his father had taken his limbs from him and had killed his mother and brother in cold blood. In addition, he was supposed to live in the same home as him, sleep in the same house, and not only that, his younger brother had to do the same and was completely oblivious to the danger he was in by just being his brother.

He shuddered and went back to his task, trying to keep his thoughts on making dinner. It took only fifteen minutes to make and he didn't burn anything. Hoenheim entered the kitchen as Ed was turning off the stove and stirring the chili. He smirked and said, ''Well, it seems you can cook, you little liar.''

There wasn't a hint of playfulness or teasing in his voice, only spite and hate in his tone. He shoved Ed away from the stove after taking out three plates and said, ''Go tell Al that dinner is ready.''

Ed hurried out of the kitchen and walked up the stairs going to the room at the end of the walkway upstairs to his right. He knocked and eased open the door.

Al grinned at him as he entered the room, ''Brother, this house is so cool. My room is really big, do you have a big room too?''

Ed forced a smile, ''Yeah. Dinner is ready.''

Al jumped to his feet, ''Really, what's for dinner?"

''Chili dogs.''

Al smiled broadly, ''Yay, my favorite. Dad's so awesome, we move to a new home and he makes my favorite for dinner.''

Ed kept a forced smile on his face, ''Yeah.'' He led his brother down to the kitchen and found his father making their plates. He handed Al a plate with two chili and cheese dogs and Ed the same. They sat at the table and ate in silence. Hoenheim looked up at Ed when he finished, ''Would you mind doing the dishes Edward?''

Ed shook his head and swallowed the last of his dinner, ''No sir.''

Hoenheim stood with a smile to Al and placed his plate in the sink. Al did the same and smiled at Hoenheim with a broad smile, ''Thank you dad. Dinner was great.''

Hoenheim hugged Al and said in a cheerful voice, ''Of course Al, anything for you. Go upstairs and get ready for a bath. When your brother finishes the dishes then he will be up there to help you. Both of you need to get plenty of sleep tonight.''

Al nodded and hugged his father back. ''Yup, we have to start at our new school tomorrow.''

Hoenheim nodded and watched Al run from the room with a smile. Once Al was heard going to his room Hoenheim leaned on the table to glare at Ed, ''You had better not upset him Edward. Hurry up and finish cleaning the kitchen then give your brother a bath. I don't want to see you for the rest of the night, got it boy/''

Ed nodded, ''Yes sir.''

Ed stood up and set to cleaning the kitchen, finishing quickly, drying the dishes and putting them away. He finished unpacking the entire kitchen before turning off the light and walking upstairs to see his brother waiting for him in the bathroom. Ed smiled and made Al's bath. Al remained quiet most of the time, occasional yawns here and there, exhausted from moving.

Once Al was dry and dressed in his pajama's Ed tucked him into bed. As Ed moved to stand and leave the room, Al grabbed his wrist, stopping him. Ed worried about the fact that Al had grabbed his right wrist. His father hadn't allowed Al to see Ed while he was in the hospital, saying his brother hadn't wanted him to see him so vulnerable and that Al may end up sick. It was a poor excuse, but Al believed their father over anyone.

''Brother, is something wrong?''

Ed smiled and bent down to kiss Al on the forehead, ''No,'' he pulled his wrist away. ''I'm just upset over Rose and my friend Gene, I miss them is all. Goodnight Al.''

Al smiled and closed his eyes, ''Goodnight brother. Love you.''

Ed stopped in the doorway and turned off the light, ''Love you too Al,'' then he closed the door quietly and walked down the hall to his room. He had a good-sized room, but it was the smallest in the house and directly above his fathers. He was a little relieved to see his father still sitting in the living room over the railing. He walked into his room and sighed as he closed the door turning on the light.

He knew better than to try to get any sleep, he hadn't slept in days, ever since he had been released from the hospital. The idea of being with his father still unnerved him and he couldn't sleep without seeing the events from that night, they were still so very fresh in his mind.

He walked over to his bed and moved the boxes onto the floor. He then started to pull out his books and clothes and set them on the bed. His father had been nice enough to give him one of his old bookshelves. The bookshelf was along the right wall next to his dresser. His mattress was on a metal frame that sat low to the floor, no headboard. He had sheets, pillows, and his blanket on the small chair next to his window. It was the chair his mother used to sit in when she sat at his bedside.

He took a deep breath and started to organize his books on the shelf, being careful not to make much noise. Luckily the bathroom upstairs was in between his and Al's room. There was a guest room across the hall from the bathroom, his father had said it was to become his study and that they weren't allowed inside that room.

Ed finished with his books, and then set to putting his clothes in the dresser and closet. Then he moved two smaller boxes to sit in front of his bookshelf, his two photo albums, and all the pictures he had managed to save from that night. He used to love taking pictures for his mom, and she kept every one of them and taught him how to use a camera. The two of them had put the photo albums together; his mom was always there for him. He had always felt so useless being sick all the time and his father was sure to make him feel worse all the time. His older brother and mom were the two that helped him get through every illness and every day, week, and month spent at home or in the hospital. His eyes were burning with tears and he brushed his palms across his face furiously.

He had spent all that time in the hospital alone and now he had to live with the bastard that had killed his . . . he had seen it all, and now he couldn't sleep. Hell, he had to be put to sleep in the hospital and they never spoke to him without his father present because his father insisted on being present when they asked him what had happened. They didn't do anything even though the signs were blinding them with their obviousness.

He moved away from the boxes and made his bed quickly. Then he set out another one of his black, long sleeved shirts, a pair of navy blue pants, and a navy blue polo shirt out on his dresser for school. He set out clean underclothes as well. He moved the nightstand he had in front of his closet over next to his bed and took his lamp, clock, and his favorite book from the small box of things he used to store in his nightstand. He set them up on the nightstand and plugged them in. He looked at the black, leather, and silver wristwatch Will had given for his last birthday and set the time. It was only midnight. He sighed; he had to find something to focus on before he started to remember.

He picked up the box with his nightstand items in it and sat down on his bed. He set the box in his lap and took out the small box inside it; he knew his camera, his mothers, and the necklace with his godmothers' alchemical symbol he was told by his mother to give the girl he loved when he was older. Ed smiled, 'Maybe I should have given it to Rose before we left. But he wouldn't let me even say goodbye.'

Rose had been his only friend in school, and when he was in the hospital, she always came to see him. Everyone else in school always picked on him or made fun of him because he was sick all the time or because he was a momma's boy. He'd seen her as they had been driving away from the house to the docks to leave; she had smiled and waved at him like she always did. He really missed her, they played board games and she always spent the weekends with him while he was at the hospital playing games and watching movies.

He put the locket back and took out his mother's camera; he turned it on and scrolled through it. There was a picture of the last time Rose had visited him at the hospital. He didn't even know his mom had taken a picture of the two of them together, sitting on his bed playing a game of checkers. That had been at least a year ago, his hair was only long enough to barely touch his shoulders and he noticed that he looked frail and pale in the picture, even though the two of them were laughing in the picture. Rose was wearing a pink dress, her red coat sitting next to her on the bed. She was tan, darker than him, with long, brown hair tied back in two pigtails; her eyes squinted with her laughter.

Ed smiled, 'She really is pretty, I never noticed that before."

He sighed and continued through the pictures, more of him in the hospital, him and Will, him and Al, him and his mom. There were few more of him and Rose together, but the latest ones were all a year old. He sighed and turned off the camera and put it back to grab his own. He smiled at the painted name on the camera written in gold paint in his mom's handwriting, 'Eddie.'

He turned on the camera and skipped through all the pictures to the last twenty he had. He had pictures of the last time he was in the hospital. He and Al in the courtyard, him and his favorite nurse Michelle. There was also a picture of him and Rose together that Michelle had taken. She had also been the one to take him to see Al in the courtyard after Rose insisted they should see each other. She knew about his fake limbs, but he had worn pants, long sleeves, and a glove and sock over his fake limbs. He knew Al had been suspicious, but he never asked.

The last picture he had was of him, Michelle, Al, and Rose together in the courtyard. Ed was sitting in a wheelchair, a huge grin on his face, Michelle stood behind him smiling warmly. Rose was wearing a yellow summer dress with her hair loose and a smile on her face that lit up her crimson eyes. Al stood on Ed's other side with a childish smile on his face dressed in khaki shorts and a white t-shirt.

The next picture made his heart leap into his throat, _'I had my camera on me that night?'_ It was a picture of his father sitting on top of his mother, there was a blur from what he knew to be himself on the floor. The next was of Will on the ground while his father walked towards him. Then the next was of himself lying on the floor, blood on him from his own wounds.

A raw, aching pain seared through him, knotting his stomach painfully and twisting his heart in his chest. He forgot how to breathe, how to think, for agonizing long minutes, he was frozen in the still very open wound losing his mom and older brother had left in him and the horrors that had brought an even fiercer feeling of fear towards his father in him. He'd witnessed it, hearing words of hate towards him, his father making it sound as it was his entire fault and Ed believed it. If they hadn't of tried to stop his father from killing him they would still be alive, they would still be here. Al would have his mom and his better, stronger, smarter older brother instead of being stuck with the one responsible for their deaths that had always been nothing but a burden, a weight, someone that was vulnerable and needed to be cared for.

Ed cut off the camera and with shaky hands put it back; he opened his drawer and placed the small box inside. He sat back down on his bed and put his head in his hands, the tears leaving his eyes before he could stop them. He cried silently for a while before he curled up on his bed and cried himself to sleep.

He jumped when his father banged on his door and was out of his bed in seconds. He ran to his dresser and was out of his room and in the bathroom quickly. He showered, dressed, brushed his teeth and hair and walked quickly downstairs to see his father sitting at the dining room table drinking a cup of coffee.

''There's nothing to make for breakfast, so eat a bowl of cereal and then go wake your brother and get him ready for school.''

''Yes sir,'' Ed turned and walked back upstairs to wake Al up. He looked at his watch to see that it was a quarter to six. With a sigh he knocked on his brother's door before easing the door open. He stepped into the room and turned on Al's bedside lamp, ''Al, it's time to wake up.''

Al stirred and mumbled, ''Okay brother,'' Ed stepped away from the bed as Al opened his eyes and turned over to look at Ed.

''Morning,'' he said in a groggy voice. Ed smiled, ''Morning, get up and get dressed.''

Al nodded and Ed walked out of the room leaving the door open. He walked back downstairs after Al walked out of his room dressed in the navy blue pants and white polo shirt for school. Ed straightened his clothes and helped him tuck in his shirt, put on his belt and tie his shoes. They walked downstairs and Ed fixed Al a bowl of cereal and glass of milk. Once they were finished, Hoenheim shouted from the front door, ''Come on boys, let's go before we're late.''

They hurried outside and grabbed their black, mesh, schoolbags by the door and Ed grabbed their coats. After putting on his black coat and helping Al into his red one, they followed their father outside. Hoenheim locked the door behind him and walked over to the tan van he had bought upon arriving in Zanarkand. Ed helped Al put his seat-belt on in the backseat and then his own and put his backpack in front of him on the floorboard so Al could put his in between their seats.

They pulled out of the driveway and to the end of the street. Then they took a left, drove down the main street to the end, and made another left. They passed through three lights before turning left again and then passed by a supermarket, strip center, and a few apartment complexes. There was also a junior high on their left. They passed through two lights and at the third turned right. Their father had told them that he enrolled them in the best grade school in the entire city and he expected them to make the best grades they could. Ed of course knew that to mean he had to make straight A's and Al was to try his hardest.

The school was nice, tan, and the students had to wear uniforms. Hoenheim parked and led them up to the school. The boys looked when they heard someone call out to him.

''Hoenheim, hey man.''

The man was as tall as Hoenheim, had brown hair, blue eyes, and a jagged scar on his left cheek. Hoenheim greeted him with what Ed knew was his forced, fake smile, ''Well, well, if it isn't Jecht Benshi.''

The man nodded, he was dressed in a gray t-shirt and blue jeans.

''What a coincidence to see you back in this city, how have you been? Are these two boys your sons?''

Hoenheim put his hand on Al's shoulder who grinned up at him and then at Jecht. Jecht reached out to shake Ed's hand, but Ed stepped away from him and closer to his father. Hoenheim chuckled, ''Yes, the younger one is my son Al. Ed is just shy, don't mind him.''

Jecht chuckled, ''Oh no, that's alright, my older son is shy as well.''

Hoenheim turned and they walked together to the front office.

''So why are you up here Jecht?"

''Well, both of my sons are enrolled here, they make us enroll our kids every semester, since it costs so much for them to go to this school.''

Hoenheim nodded in understanding and Jecht stepped forward to hold the door open for them. There were many parents inside the office, it was spacious and had marble floors and tall ceilings. There were at least ten different desks. He noticed at the back of the room was a hallway that went across. There was a door to the nurses' office, assistant principals, principal, and councilor as well. He couldn't see much else though.

Hoenheim told Al to sit down in one of the chairs and Ed stood next to him as Hoenheim walked towards one of the less crowded desks. Ed looked around the room at all the kids and crossed his arms over his chest. There was a boy sitting next to Al, he looked older than Ed, possibly a fifth grader. He had a bulky build, even for a fifth grader, blond hair, bright eyes, and was smiling. The boy looked at him and Ed looked away.

The boy stood up and said cheerfully holding out his hand, ''Hi, are you new here, I'm Alex Louis Armstrong.''

Ed said nothing and wouldn't look at the boy, he never got along with anyone anyway and they were always nosy. Al stood up and said cheerfully shaking the boys' hand. ''Yup, my brother and I are just starting here. We just moved here a few days ago. I'm Alphonse Elric, and this is my older brother Ed.''

Ed shuddered at the intensity of the stares coming from everyone else in the room. Alex and Al seemed unaffected by it, but Ed looked down at the ground letting his hair curtain his face. He wondered if they knew about what happened to his mom and brother and whether anyone from Bevelle knew him and had told them how he was sick all the time.

He was brought from his thoughts when there was the sound of cheerful laughter across the room. Ed looked to see a tan, blond haired, blue-eyed boy his age laughing at something. Around him sat a few other boys, all around his age. Next to him sat a boy that looked like him, maybe a year older with a darker tan and darker shade of blond hair. Both of them looked fit for their age, the elder of the two trying to ignore his brother.

Ed looked away when the boy looked over at him and was relieved when he went back to talking to his friends and laughing. It took a few hours to clear the office and finally finish enrolling them. Once their father left one of the office assistants took Al to his classroom. Ed had to sit in the councilor's office for a reason he didn't know.

He sat slumped in the red leather chair in the small, crowded office. There were two bookshelves lining the right wall, filing cabinets lining the other, a desk, another leather chair, and two chairs next to the filing cabinets. Behind the desk, in black, leather, rolling chair sat a woman. She had mousy brown hair tied back in a tight bun, black framed glasses, pale skin, green eyes, and was wearing a ugly, brown and red, plaid, dress suit.

Her name was Miss Douque, not that he really cared. She sat looking through his file for a few minutes then she smiled at him and said, ''Edward, it says that you were recently pulled from public school due to medical reasons. Do you care to tell me what those reasons are?''

Ed huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't want sympathy from her for his tragic story, ''No, call the school in Bevelle.''

She continued to smile, ''Alright, that's fine. I also noticed that you didn't make friends easily. Do you have any problems you would like to discuss with me?''

''No, not likely.''

Her smile faltered but returned quickly, ''Alright then, how about you lose the attitude and try to talk to me.''

Ed scoffed, ''No, can I go to class yet?"

She sighed and her smile was gone, ''Yes, you may. Hand your schedule to one of the office assistants and they will show you to class. But I want you to know that if you want to talk to me then I am here.''

Ed picked up his backpack and threw it on his shoulder without another word. He closed the door behind him and walked over to one of the office assistants, ''Can you please show me to my class now?''

She smiled and nodded, she was 5'7'', thin, blond, and blue eyed, and wore a white blouse and black skirt. She led him past the faculty restroom and the assistant principal's office and principals then out a door at the end of the hallway. Then they turned right down the broad, white, tiled, hallway with only three doors along the wall in front of the door. At the end of that hallway they came to blue carpeted floors. To their right was a wide hallway that led to the gym at the end and four other hallways to the left and right. To their left was whiter tiled floor about fifty feet away that Ed assumed was the cafeteria and then two more hallways across from that. In the center, on the backside of where the office was stood a floor to ceiling window that overlooked a playground and courtyard combination. Ed noticed that there was building in the back, the library. He followed her down the hallway that followed the glass around the courtyard. He noticed that there were monkey bars, swing sets, slides, and a wooden, log house that stood as tall as the swing set. There were also trees around the playground.

Closer to the library there was a pavilion with benches fitted under trees. There were at least four classes outdoors. Two were at the playground, one in the pavilion, and one sitting on the grass around a teacher under a large oak tree. He noticed that the boy that had been laughing from earlier had looked up as they passed by and looked away quickly.

His escort stopped by a side door that led outside and said with a warm smile, ''Your class is that one sitting under the tree. Your teacher is Mrs. Osana.''

Ed nodded and stepped outside with her over to the teacher seated at the bench. She was a woman in her late forties, a warm, kind smile on her face, red hair, brown eyes, tan skin, her hair tied back in a braid wearing a pair of khaki pants and a blue polo shirt. She had on tennis shoes and stopped in the middle of reading something from the open text book sitting on her lap as they came up to her. She smiled at Ed then the assistant, ''Thank you Miss Jane, this must be the new student.''

''Yes ma'am, his name is Edward.''

Mrs. Osana smiled with a nod, ''Thank you, I can take it from here.''

Jane nodded and walked back into the building. Ed sighed and Mrs. Osana smiled, ''Well then,'' she looked at the class who were already talking amongst themselves. All except the boy from earlier who was looking at Ed curiously. Ed shifted under the gaze and put his hands in his pockets. Mrs. Osana cleared her throat, ''Class, be quiet please,'' she said in a stern voice. They continued talking and she coughed, ''Class, shut up for a moment.''

The class fell silent and Ed smirked noticing that the boy smirked as well. She nodded, ''Thank you, now, this is Edward Elric, he just moved here from Bevelle. Be nice to him and welcome him to our school.''

The entire class erupted into a hello, which Ed only smiled and removed his hand from his pocket to wave at them with his left hand. Mrs. Osana smiled and addressed the class, ''Okay, well, who wants to volunteer to help Edward out for the day?''

Ed flinched at the shrieks of me; Mrs. Osana looked around at everyone.

''Wonderful, well I think, Tidus, stand up please.'' The class awed and the boy from earlier stood up. Ed noticed that while he was wearing the navy pants and polo, he had on a white long sleeved undershirt and a necklace around his neck along with a yellow tie around his right arm. The boy was grinning, ''Cool,'' he said cheerfully.

Mrs. Osana looked back at Ed, ''Edward, go and sit next to Tidus and he will be glad to help you out today. I know you are a top student young man, but no worries, the two of you have that in common.''

Ed nodded and walked around the class and over to Tidus. They sat down and Ed opened his backpack to take out his textbook. Tidus discretely told him the page number as the teacher started the lesson again. Ed was surprised that Tidus was actually paying attention to the lesson, it wasn't that hard for Ed to keep up, and he had been in honor classes before. He knew this class was another honor class and all the students were honor students as well. Tidus had told him so. It was a science lesson about the different atoms and such, their teacher liked the outdoors and felt that science was best taught outside where the kids could feel and see the things around them and better remember the significance to science. After their science lesson, they went over algebra, and then they worked on social studies. Next, they had lunch, the time Ed was dreading, and lunch would mean people would ask questions and want to talk to him.

Tidus dragged him through the busy cafeteria and told him what was good to eat and what wasn't. Then he was dragged to sit at a crowded table with Tidus' friends from earlier. There was a pale, dark haired boy sitting next to his new friends' brother with onyx eyes. Then next to him was a girl with reddish brown eyes, blond hair tied back in a ponytail, pale, wearing a navy blue jumper and white polo shirt. There was girl sitting across from the three in a navy blue skirt and white polo. She had black hair tied back in a ponytail, pale skin, and brown eyes. Next to her was a pale boy with short black hair and dark brown eyes. Then there was another girl with long black hair loose, wearing the same as the other girl. The boy next to her had his long black hair braided down his back, light brown eyes, pale skin, and was wearing a navy blue shirt and pair of pants. Tidus sat down next to him and said after pulling Ed down next to him, ''This is Ed, he just moved here.''

They all stopped eating and smiled at him with hellos and a few nods. Ed ate in silence while the others talked and laughed together. He jumped when someone sat down next to him; it was a tan, blond haired, blue-eyed boy a year younger than him. Behind him stood others his age, one a pale boy with dark black hair that was spiked up in the back, onyx black eyes, and wearing all navy blue. He had his arms crossed and scowl on his face. Next to him stood a pink haired girl and black haired girl. The ink haired girl looked cheerful and wore the jumper and white polo, her long pink hair tied back with a navy ribbon and her green eyes gleaming. Her friend looked shy, had pale eyes, and wore the same outfit. Next to her stood a pale-eyed boy with his long black hair tied back at the base of his neck wearing an impassive look on his face.

The boy that had sat next to him looked at him with a grin, ''Heya' you're new here, right, I'm Naruto. Nice ta' mecha'.''

Tidus turned to the two and smiled at Naruto, ''Hey man, you're going to scare him off like that.''

Naruto got up and smiled, ''I just wanted to say hi T.''

Tidus laughed, ''Yeah, well I think your best friend is getting peeved at you.''

Naruto turned to look at the boy scowling at him, he shrugged and held his hand out to Ed, ''Hi.''

Ed nodded, ''Hi.''

Naruto scratched the back of his neck with a nervous laugh and jumped when the blond haired girl at the table yelled out, ''Naruto, leave him alone.''

Naruto ran over to her and hugged her from behind, ''But sis, he should be welcomed here, this school sucks.''

Ed snickered and with a sigh, he got up to take his tray. He walked past Naruto's friends. He faltered for a moment when the raven-haired boy said softly, ''Good luck if you plan on ignoring the dobe.''

Ed smirked and continued walking; he put his tray up and turned to leave when he accidentally bumped into someone falling back on his butt. He looked up and said, ''Sorry about that.''

He noticed that he was looking up at an obvious fifth grader that should be in junior high. He was bulky, had tall blond hair, looked around twelve, and had bright green eyes. He glared down at Ed with his arms crossed over his chest. Ed stood up, brushed himself off, and said clearly, ''Sorry.''

He made to leave but was grabbed by his wrist, ''Where you going new boy? I haven't introduced myself yet.''

Ed glared at the boy, ''I didn't ask for an introduction. Let go.''

The boys' grip tightened and Ed felt himself being pulled to stand in front of the bigger boy again. Ed hardly had time to react before he was grabbed by his throat and shoved into the wall. His feet dangled a few inches off the ground while his hands shot up to grab the boys' thick wrist in both hands.

''I'm Broly, and this here is my school, so I suggest you watch where you're going next time, runt.''

Ed glared at him and ground out, ''The parents pay for this school, so I don't see how this is your school, brute.''

He was shoved against the wall again knocking the air out of him. However, Ed's glare didn't falter, it intensified. This was why he hated school, the bullies. The students were already crowded around him and Ed noticed that Tidus and his friends were pushing to the front of the crowd. Broly tightened his grip on his throat, ''Lets' get this straight runt, this is my school.''

Ed tightened his hold on Broly's wrist with his right hand and twisted the hand forcing Broly to release him with a painful growl. Ed hit the floor and fell to his knees gasping for breath. His right arm went up when a kick was aimed at him and Broly grabbed his leg howling in pain. Ed stood up and dusted himself off fixing a glare on a very angry Broly a few feet from him.

Broly growled at him, ''You little runt, what is your arm made of?''

Ed sighed, ''Metal and plastic, care to try again.''

A few of the students backed away in fear allowing Tidus and Naruto to push to the front. Tidus stepped over next to Ed, ''Leave him alone Broly.''

Broly turned his gaze to Tidus, ''Or you'll do what cousin?''

Tidus balled his fist and Broly laughed, then Naruto stepped over next to Tidus, ''Can you take all three of us you oversized, stupid, jackass?''

Broly sighed and pointed his finger at Ed, ''This ain't finished yet runt.''

Ed glared, ''I'm not scared of you.''

Broly huffed, ''We'll see about that,'' then he pushed his way out of the crowd. Ed huffed and walked through the crowd after him, but Tidus grabbed his left arm and stopped him, ''Trust me Ed, he'll kick your butt.''

Ed huffed and wrenched his arm away, ''It's better than having him pick on someone else.''

Tidus followed him out of the cafeteria and out into the courtyard. Ed turned around and glared at him once they got to the pavilion.

''Why are you following me, aren't you scared of me now?''

Tidus looked at him confused, ''Why would I be?''

Ed sighed, ''You think I was kidding back there, I have a metal and plastic arm, my left leg is fake too.''

Tidus shrugged, ''So what, am I supposed to be scared of you because of that?''

Ed huffed and shook his head, ''Why not, everyone else is.''

He was caught off guard when Tidus turned him around by pulling on his shoulder and punched him in the face. Ed hit the ground grabbing his jaw, ''So what, I'm not everyone else.''

Ed jumped to his feet, ''What, do you want to pretend to be my friend so that you feel better or something? I don't want sympathy or a friend that wants to be friends with me because I don't have any friends.''

Tidus glared at him, ''I'm not pretending, I want to be your friend because I think you're cool. I don't sympathize with you, I don't know you and I hate sympathy anyway. So why don't you stop being such a bastard and try to be nice?''

Ed scoffed, ''Nice, right, kind of hard to do.''

Tidus sighed and walked over to the pavilion sitting on the steps. Ed followed him against his better judgment. He sat down next to him and sighed, ''I hate school; all the students ever did was look sorry for me or pick on me all the time. Not to mention people like that Broly thug.''

Tidus looked at him, ''Why would they pick on you?''

Ed sighed; they still had at least fifteen minutes for lunch, so he would just suck it up.

''I was sick all the time; I spent more time at home or in the hospital than I did at school. Not to mention, I was always clinging to my m-mom, she was always there with me and all . . . The last few weeks I was at school in Bevelle, the kids picked on me until I got in a fight a week before I left and they saw the fake arm and leg. Then they either ganged up on me or acted scared of me like the kids here just did.''

Tidus was silent for a moment, ''Well, that sucks, but I actually know about the being sick all the time. The kids here don't pick on me all that much anymore, I have a lot of friends now, actually. I just got out of the hospital a few days ago, ended up going a week before winter break.''

Ed looked at Tidus to see if he was lying, but his eyes said he was telling the truth. Ed sighed, ''You really are sick all the time?''

Tidus nodded, ''Yeah, but hey, there's no point in being all depressed about it. That's like you're begging for sympathy in my opinion. Anyway, life's too short to be depressed all the time.''

Ed smiled, really smiled at him, ''Yeah, I guess, but how do you not get depressed about it?''

Tidus laughed, ''Well, hang out with me, loosen up, learn to laugh and smile, and picking fights is cool, just warn me next time.''

Ed jumped up, ''Hey, he started that fight.''

Tidus laughed and put his arm around Ed's shoulder, ''I know, I was just messing with you. See, this is what I mean about loosening up.''


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and am making no money with this fic. As this is a crossover with well over thirty or so characters owned by others take my word for it, I own only the extra s and possibly five other characters and the plot only.**

**Warning: Heed the rating, read at your own risk. This story is rated MA for good reason and that will be clarified in later chapters.**

_A/N: This story follows the last chapter therefore this is four years later from the nine years before of Chapter 2. If you're still confused then just think of this chapter as five years before the present. I'm an idiot who couldn't make up her mind with this story so forgive me and I hope you enjoy anyway._

**Part 1 Chapter 3**

_Four Years Later . . ._

Tidus and Ed had become inseparable since that first day they had met. Most would think the two would end up fighting each other all the time because of what complete opposites they were in most things. While one was a partier and very social the other would rather spend all day in a library doing research on the latest technology or alchemical discovery.

But regardless of their differences both of them had one anothers' backs and while one often had to drag the other to group gatherings and parties they still managed to stand one another. Only a very select few knew just how much they depended on one another to get through each day or their lives and it was those deep rooted similarities they shared that really kept their friendship strong.

Today the taller of the two blonds had dragged his shorter comrade with him to the park for such a social gathering that the other was not too ecstatic to be a part of. It was the middle of the summer before they started junior high so naturally the more exuberant of the two wanted to take full advantage of summer vacation. They were even taking a break from playing blitzball which was something of a shock considering both of the Benshi brothers and Ed's dedication to the sport.

The two were sitting at the table with Shuyin, Yuna, Lenne, and their cousins Rikku and Paine. Naturally they were waiting on even more of their friends to arrive, though Ed hardly counted anyone other than the Benshi brothers' and his stoic classmate as friends. Currently however he wasn't thinking much about that while he and Tidus were talking about the difference between E.Z. High's blitzball team and N.Z. High's team, both teams were tied in the tournament earlier in the year and naturally E.Z. went on to the Junior Cup which basically meant the Cup of Spira for the school teams. Only the professional teams could play for the World Cup of Spira.

They were wearing typical summer clothes for a day at the park, with one exception for the two best friends sitting between the two of the four girls accompanying them. Under their T-shirt's they wore white long sleeved shirts. Ed was wearing a red shirt and Tidus was wearing a blue one and both had on blue jean shorts like Shuyin. Shuyin was wearing a yellow T-shirt.

Lenne and Yuna were wearing simple summer dresses, Lenne in a blue and Yuna in a pink dress. Lenne had darker brown hair that she wore loosely and her dress brought out the blue of her eyes and the light tan of her skin. Yuna had a lighter tan and a lighter shade of brown hair and with her sister she had one blue eye and one green eye.

Their friend Rikku was wearing a pair of blue jeans with a yellow tank top that complemented her tan skin and her bright blond hair and unique green eyes with golden swirls signifying her as an AlBhed. The last of the girls, Paine, had premature gray hair and always had that went well with her crimson eyes. She was wearing black pants and a black long sleeved shirt and refused to sit at the table instead choosing to be off on her own under the shade of a tree.

There was an unspoken question in the air that the three more social girls wanted to ask Tidus and Ed concerning not only the long sleeved shirts in such hot and humid weather but also the hand shaped bruise around Tidus' neck and the cut under his bruised eye. Ed had a right black eye and a busted lip and just the showing marks made them wonder about what marks they were hiding underneath those long sleeved shirts. Any bruises or scrapes they got were always blamed on Blitzball or fighting and the longer the girls were friends with them the less they believed their excuses.

It wasn't long before the rest of their group arrived, naturally an even more exuberant blond than Tidus announced his arrival with a loud yell of greeting and a broad smile towards everyone as he ran across the park to their table and practically tackled Ed as his way of hello. He was dragging his stoic best friend behind him who wisely broke away before one blond assaulted the other who promptly slapped the all too hyper blond upside the head for his energetic greeting. Behind them were some of their more recent friends, a pair of boys that Ed didn't really recognize.

One of the boys had really long hair tied back in a braid, his hair was a dark brown and he had violet eyes and slightly tan skin. He was around Ed's age and was wearing all black despite the heat of the summer. Next to him was a paler boy with short black hair wearing a green male's version of some uniform it looked like with brown eyes. The girl had her hair up in a ponytail, brown eyes, and was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a blue t-shirt. He did notice now that Naruto wasn't smothering him that the blond was wearing an orange T-shirt and black shorts with orange stripes down the side. Sasuke, as usual, was wearing a navy blue pullover shirt and a white pair of shorts with the same kind of shinobi shoes that his best friend wore.

It was easy to pinpoint who went to the Uchiha temple for martial arts training just by what kind of shoes they wore. Neji had on a white hoody and pants, his cousin Hinata had on a light blue t-shirt and baggy white pants. Sakura wore her hair down and was wearing a pink blouse with black shorts. These three also had on those same shinobi shoes, they were really thick sandals and it seemed as though only Sasuke wrapped his legs but when Ed had asked he was told that was to ensure he didn't pull any muscles when he was training which was why the girls would wrap their chests when they got older and some guys might wrap their arms if they needed to.

The guy who was wearing all black and had the long, braided hair and the two accompanying him were Duo, Yusuke, and Keiko. They were neighbors and it seemed to Ed that Shuyin and Tidus knew just about everyone in Zanarkand, there never did seem to be anyone they couldn't tell you about.

After everyone exchanged hello's and names they all gathered around the two picnic tables and Shuyin was the first to address Duo which gave Ed a clue as to how the Benshi brothers' knew these new kids that had joined them. But he was left wondering why he had never met them up until now; shouldn't they have gone to school together or something?

"Where's your brother, I thought he was going to come as well."

Duo shrugged, "I don't know, not his keeper. Plus it's his day to watch Misa anyway, but he said he would come so he will."

There was another unfamiliar hello Ed guessed was directed to Shuyin and Tidus considering they did seem to know everyone. This new person was definitely older than they were, quite possibly a high school kid. He looked about fifteen and stood at least six feet tall. He had long, dark brown hair tied back in a braid, ocean blue eyes, tan skin, wore long sleeves, baggy black pants, and had gloves on both of his hands. There was a scar on his right cheek and he had his arm around a young woman his age.

She was pale, had deep red hair, naturally red lips, jade green eyes, and their was an elegance to her even though she wore a red tank top and fitting black pants. She had silver hoops in her ears and wore her hair back in a beret. The older teenager had at least four piercings in his ears. Next to the couple stood a boy a year or two younger than both of them, tan skin, black hair tied back at the nape of his neck, wearing a red kimono. His crystal blue eyes had a wisdom and hardness to them even though his expression was kind.

Ed jumped startled when Tidus suddenly leapt to his feet with an excited and happy cry of, "NATE!"

With a laugh the youngest of the three older kids had to step back from the force of the hug the blond greeted him with. After Tidus and Nate released one another the dark haired teenager ruffled a head of blond spiky hair and said with a smile, "Long time no see T." Ed tensed when the smile faded and his best friend tensed as well from the look in the older boys' eyes as he grabbed his chin and titled it to the side, his sharp eyes no doubt zeroing in on the mark around the tan neck.

"What the hell is this shit?"

Tidus tried to laugh it off and pull away but Nate didn't appear to want to let him go because his other hand grabbed the blond before him by the shoulder and stopped him from backing away. Tidus swallowed and closed his eyes to answer in a mumble that Ed caught because he had gotten to his feet and was walking over to his friends' side; "It's nothing, the old man is just an asshole most the time."

Nate sighed and released him to which both boys were relieved, Ed and Tidus exchanged glances but neither noticed the look Nate and his older friend were giving one another. A discreet nod and a nudge later and they all headed over to the table where the others were and found somewhere to sit. Shuyin addressed Nate, "So, what brings you around to see us, I thought your old man didn't want you anywhere near the rest of your family."

"Yeah, but he can shove it in my opinion. I wasn't going to stay away from the only sane family I have, especially not when I heard my two younger cousins were starting to seriously play Blitzball," he was grinning at them now. Ed now knew why his best friend knew this older kid, they were related, but who were these other older kids?

Tidus was grinning at his cousin s words and then glanced at his best friend and over to the oldest of their new quests and said simply, "Uh, these two are Tye and Angela. Tye is Nate's best friend and Angela is obviously Tye's girlfriend."

Ed nodded to them in greeting to which Tye nodded once back and Angela smiled sweetly at him. Nate turned to him and Ed watched him warily, especially when Nate's eyes narrowed at the marks that stood out on his face. He hoped he didn't have to suffer through interrogation like Tidus had to, he barely knew this guy. Tidus cut into the stare down and said while putting his arm around his shoulders' "Don't scare off my best friend Nate."

Nate sighed heavily, "You and your best friend, the one that has something in common with you and who you talk endlessly about?" Tidus continued grinning and nodded, "Yeah, stop acting like a depressed emo kid."

"Alright sunshine, nice to meet you finally Edward."

Ed smiled a bit forcefully and nodded, "Um, yeah, same to you."

Nate smiled and his entire demeanor suddenly changed into one more light hearted, ''T. here hasn't shut up about how awesome you are since he met you. He skyrocketed my phone bill.''

Tidus laughed, ''Yeah, yeah. How are Ella and everyone doing?''

Nate smiled at Tidus, ''They are fine; Ella says she looks forward to you working there when you turn sixteen. She said you're a good cook. How about we go to the diner later tonight and say hi.''

Tidus nodded, ''Yeah, she'll be happy to see you.''

Ed looked around to see that everyone else had started their own conversations amongst each other now that things had calmed down. He winced when Tidus elbowed him in the side; his ribs were still a bit bruised from his fathers' punishment the other night. At least Al was at Winry's for the rest of the week so he didn't have to worry about his younger brother. His best friend nudged him again and he glared at him, "What?"

Tidus smirked, "Zoning out again? What's up Ed?"

"Nothing, I was thinking, you should try it."

"Ha ha, you're funny," Tidus replied sarcastically.

Nate chuckled beside him and his change of subject was hardly what Ed was expecting or wanted the subject to change to, "So, are you really the son of Hoenheim?"

Ed tensed at the question, Tidus made to interrupt, but Nate said before he could, "I heard about what he did in Bevelle. You'd be surprised how fast word travels when it concerns your illustrious family."

Ed laughed darkly, "illustrious eh?"

Nate chuckled not missing the dark tension but continuing anyway; "Yeah, well Jones, Benshi, Elric, Uchiha, and Hyuga are pretty famous names. I'm not surprised at all that somehow you all know one another."

Tidus sighed, "Nate, come on man, don't start on that psycho babble your old man feeds you."

Nate shrugged and finally changed the subject, "Yeah, yeah. So are you looking forward to junior high?"

Tidus nodded and said cheerfully, "Hell yeah, junior high means blitzball. I just hope they let Ed play too, he's pretty good at it."

A new voice joined them, "And why wouldn't they?"

Tidus and Ed jumped startled by Tye.

Nate smiled at their expense while his best friend smirked at the two young blonds, "Hey Tye, do you have to scare them?"

When the older teen that had startled them laughed both blonds relaxed by the ease and carefree tone to his laugh. Ed was even able to let go of some of his unease from Nate's interrogation earlier as Tye said cheerfully; "Just messing with them. They have to lighten up when amongst friends. Family lives suck for a lot of us so we could all use some reprieve."

He stood up only to sit down on the end of the table, looking pointedly at Ed, "So why wouldn't they let you play blitzball?"

Ed shrugged, "I don't know, ask Tidus since he has such a big mouth."

Tidus laughed and punched Ed playfully in the shoulder, "It's cause' he has two fake limbs."

Tye shrugged, "So, I have too fake limbs and I'm on the varsity team at E.Z."

Tidus grinned at him, "Really, why didn't you tell me that before? Now you so have to practice with me man."

Tye sighed, "Hell no kiddo, not practicing with an eleven year old. You get hurt enough on a day to day basis."

Tidus bristled, "Hey, so what. That's not reason enough. Really why not?"

"Because you suck you brat," Tye teased with a smirk.

"No I don't, ask Ed and Shuyin."

Tye looked at Ed then back at Tidus, then he shouted out to Shuyin talking to his girlfriend. ''Shuyin, is your brat of a brother any good at blitzball?''

Tidus jumped up and made to tackle Tye who laughed and jumped out of the way. Tidus chased Tye around the park for a moment until Tye threw him over his shoulder onto his back with a laugh. Ed sighed as Tidus jumped up and continued to chase Tye around the park. Ed jumped when the girl Tye had come with suddenly yelled out at them, ''You two behave!''

Tye laughed and caught Tidus in a head lock and gave him a noogy before he ran over to his girlfriend, "Aww, come on Angel, I was just messing with him."

She huffed with her hands on her hips, "Yeah right, you and messing with everyone always leads to trouble."

Tye laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck, "It was just harmless fun."

She sat back down and he sat down next to her and continued to plead with her. She finally smiled when he kissed her on the cheek. Ed sighed and Tidus sat down next to him, "Crazy Old Man," he said loud enough for Tye to hear him. Tye made to stand up, but was pulled back down by Angela. Nate snickered and said half serious, "You better watch it T. Tye has the habit of retaliating."

Tidus huffed, "Good next time I will get him."

Nate laughed, "Yeah right kid, you've never beaten him and I doubt you ever will."

"My ass I won't, I'll kick his ass," Tidus mumbled under his breath.

Ed laughed at his friends' petulant attitude, "Sure you will T."

Naruto, Duo, and Yusuke were sitting back on the grass having watched the entire thing. Of course they had known who Tye, Angela, and Nate were, just about anyone knew who those three were in Zanarkand. Ella was really well known as well, she owned the most popular diner in East Zanarkand with her wife Genelle and her brother Maxwell. Naruto turned to the two near by him since everyone else drifted off on their own to talk amongst themselves. Sasuke, as usual had decided that sitting in the tree that Paine was sitting under was the best way to avoid being forced into social activity.

"So are you two really going to get to go to E.Z. High?"

Duo shrugged, "Yeah, if we keep our G.P.A.'s up like we have we should be ale to get scholarships."

Yusuke nodded, "Yeah, at least that's one of the good things about E.Z., if you don't have the cash you can get in on grades and sports or something. Though you might have to buy your way in kid."

Naruto glared at them as they chuckled at his expense, "Hey, I make good grades."

Duo smirked, "Yeah, because you have a genius for a best friend."

Naruto huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, "That's not true; I do my own school work. Besides Sas' and I don't have any of the same classes, he's in all honor classes."

Yusuke shrugged, "Like that proves anything. All honor classes just proves he would have no trouble at all helping you out."

Naruto glared darkly at him, "So what if he does, there's nothing wrong with that."

Duo laughed, "Yeah, you're right. We're just messing with you blondie."

Naruto scoffed at being the butt of their jokes and said, "I have a name you guys."

"Whatever you say Uzumaki," Yusuke said.

Naruto decided it was time for a change of subject, "Are you two going to play blitzball in junior high?"

Duo shook his head with a sigh, "Nah, can't afford it. I will just wait until I can get a job and pay for the uniforms and stuff. We still play at the park with Joel and them though."

Naruto nodded, "Eh, at least you will still get to play. I thought about taking up the sport in high school."

The two best friends laughed and Duo said, "Uh, alright whatever kid. You might want to see if you can handle the middle school level blitzball before you try out for the high school level. Plus you have to make the team first anyway."

Yusuke nodded, "Yeah, high school is only one level below pro and it's a harsh game. You have to be serious about 'cause people get seriously hurt playing blitzball. I doubt even the two of us will make the team when we go to the high school."

Naruto shrugged, "You two can't scare me out of playing. Besides, even if you two don't make the team I will."

They both shrugged and then Yusuke continued, "You're welcome to try, but with Elric and the Benshi brother's trying out and being a year older than you, all I can do is wish you luck."

Duo nodded, "Yeah, that's why I doubt we'll make the team. There's no telling how many openings they will have after those three join."

Naruto leaned forward on the table and whispered, "Are those three really that good?" He glanced over at the three they were talking about to see Tidus dragging Ed away from the table with his brother. It looked as though Tidus was trying to get the two to challenge Tye at something. He looked back to the two he was talking to.

Duo smirked, ''Hell yeah, T. and Shuyin have been kicking our teams ass since grade school. When Ed joined their team their team started to slaughter us. If you plan on joining a team soon you should start with an unofficial street team. The fewer rules, the more dangerous, but it will toughen you up to the game. You won't make a school team this year but after some experience maybe you can handle it."

Naruto nodded, "Okay, that makes sense, but I doubt anyone would let me join their local team."

Yusuke sighed and exchanged glances with Duo then the shortest of the pair said, "Well hell I don't see why not."

Yusuke smirked, "Hey, if you're serious about playing the game, then we will let you play with our team. We have practice this Saturday at noon at the park in our neighborhood. One of us will come get you. But it's just a try out, so I won't guarantee anything. We aren't in charge anyway."

Naruto grinned gratefully, "Really man, thanks. Who is in charge?"

Duo sighed, "Johny and his brother Hadji."

Nate's voice suddenly joined them making the three of them jump; "Really, so he finally managed to convince Hagi to play huh?"

Duo nodded with a grin, "Yeah, he convinced him a year or two ago. When he ain't there his girlfriend Jessie is."

Yusuke nodded, "I prefer Hadji any day, Jessie is a real hard ass."

Nate laughed knowingly, "Yeah, I bet she is, but she must not coach that often if you guys always get beat by Tidus, Shuyin, and Ed."

Yusuke and Duo stuck their tongues out at him which made him laugh. Nate continued, "Plus, you're trying to go up against the sons' of a legend to begin with."

Tidus chimed in as he came over to them with Ed following behind him, "Fuck that, Shuyin and I will make his 'legend' disappear next to our awesomeness."

Ed smirked, "I vote for that notion."

Tidus laughed, "Thanks man."

Duo rolled his eyes at the two of them, "Yeah, well. Either way, with Johny and Hadji refusing to actually participate in the games, it's only an eight man team and the chicks on our team suck."

Yusuke laughed, "Yeah got that right . . . hey," he paused as a thought came to him. He looked to his best friend, "Aren't we supposed to be scouting to find better players anyway? What about that tomboy chick, Tiffa or whatever her name is?"

Duo cringed, "No way man, she's meaner than Keiko."

"Hey, I resent that you jackass," cried Keiko as she came back over to them with Paine and Rikku is tow. Just for good measure she made sure to smack Duo upside the head once she settled to stand between her two friends.

Yusuke chuckled at his friends expense then continued, "So, that just means we don't have to worry about having some girly, prissy chick like the ones we have now. We've already seen that girl play and she's damn good."

Nate looked at the two, "Tiffa?"

Duo sighed, "Yeah, she's some chick that hangs out in our neighborhood; she beats the hell out of all the guys when they mess with her or her brother. She has these two best friends too, but they are different and more laid back than her. But damn, that girl is mean as hell."

Nate smiled, "Sounds that way."

"She is not mean once you get to know her," Keiko chimed in.

Tye suddenly joined the conversation, "You guys aren't talking about Tiffa Aoyogi are you?"

Nate nodded, "Yeah, do you know her?"

Tye nodded, "Yeah I know her, went to grade school together. She has always been a mean piece of work, but it was funny to see her whip all the guys asses in school. Angel knew her pretty well, that tomboy always hangs out with Cloud Strife and his cousin Aerieth, and those girls are best friends and polar opposites. But believe me; she's not that mean unless you get on her bad side."

Before anyone else could make any further comment a rather loud clip of rock music blared from inside Tye's pocket. He grinned at everyone and took out his phone flipping it open to answer it as he turned away from everyone. "Yello'."

"A.J. there's trouble in the city, the boss wants you and Angel to join up with Johny, Jessie, and Trunks and see what's goin' on."

Tye sighed and motioned to Angel who was already making her way to his side from where she stood by Yuna, Lenne, Sakura, and Hinata.

"Okay, got it. Nate is in town so we have an extra hand at least." Angela stopped at his side while Nate listened closely to his best friend s end of the conversation.

Everyone else had grown silent to do the same as Nate was doing and a heavy feeling swept over the once light mood. That heaviness and foreboding did not escape the hunters who were about to run into the fray, in fact they could feel it more intensely than everyone else. Already there was a weight and shadow casting over Nate and Angela's eyes as well as Tye's. Something sinister was permeating the air and staining it with dread and loss as well as destruction. It wasn't until the ground shook beneath their feet and the echoes of screams and explosions carried to the group in the park that all of them were made aware of the seriousness of the dangers in their city.

He almost didn't hear what was said into his ear over the phone as he glanced to the sky, his blue eyes turning an almost black with anger and sorrow for those who were afraid and hurting; "The heart of this is in the business district, please hurry A.J."

"Got it, on the way," he replied quickly and closed and pocketed his phone. He exchanged a look with Nate and Angela who nodded and looked to the sky where smoke was steadily rising and growing thicker by the second. They turned and began to make their way out of the park, only a few knew they didn't need vehicles to cover such a distance in a few short minutes and now seemed the time they didn't worry about letting that be known by anyone. Already adults were carrying or ushering their children out of the park with panicked and terrified cries and shouts. Others were yelling at their group to go home but they paid them no heed.

Before Angela and Nate fully turned away Nate asked, "Who's already there?"

Tye sighed, "Trunks, Johny, Jessie, and probably Hadji."

She nodded and turned to lead the way, Nate following behind her. Tye made to leave as well but Shuyin grabbed his wrist and before Ed could do more than wonder what was going on Tidus had run forward and seized Nate by the wrist stopping him. Both Benshi brothers looked worried and wore the same questioning expressions. Ed stood where he was and heart Nate telling his best friend, "It's alright, we'll be back and be sure to bring each other back T."

Tye place his hand over Shuyin's to say with a gentle smile, "Nathan is right, we will make sure that we all come back. You two should know better than to doubt us by now."

Before either brother could protest more or before anyone else could question the three further they ran off disappearing into the surrounding trees and when Tidus ran off after them he never caught up. Ed ran after his best friend, "T. hey Tidus wait up," he was already out of breath thanks to his bruised ribs, which was another reminder of why he was grateful to have a break from blitzball today. He would need at least another week before he could play if he wanted to keep from breaking his ribs.

Tidus was looking up through the canvas of trees overhead and the smoke thickening the sky. "Tidus?"

Ed paused a heavy feeling of dread settling over him because of the look his friend gave him when he finally looked his way. "I have a really bad feeling about this, it's like- it's worse than when you just know your old man's about to go off on you, you know?"

"Tidus-what are you-"

"Don't act like you don't feel it, something really bad is going to happen but what the hell can a bunch of kids like us do about it?"

Ed was about to say something when the ground shook violently beneath their feet and Shuyin's voice carried to where the two stood in search of them. It was like a switch was flipped in his best friend, that shadow was gone from his eyes and he squared his shoulders and put on a smile. That was the first time Ed finally noticed just how much his best friend hid behind that smile of his and why he did it. It was also the first time he realized that his best friend had pretty good instincts because that day was a turning point for everyone in the city whether or not they themselves were directly affected by it or not.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and am making no money with this fic. As this is a crossover with well over thirty or so characters owned by others take my word for it, I own only the extras and possibly five other characters and the plot only.**

**_Warning: Heed the rating, read at your own risk. This story is rated MA for good reason. Violence ensues in this chapter._**

_A/N: Still set in the past and follows immediately after the previous chapter._

**Part 1 Chapter 4**

A young girl who carried herself as though she were older than her eleven years walked with her brother and friends through the bustling square of the great city. Her brother was only seven years old and his dark hair had a violet tint that stood out more than her own blue tinted black hair. His violet eyes were a deeper contrast from her own bright blue eyes but there was little doubt the two were related. While her brother wore dark clothes that looked as though they were going to fall off his slim figure she wore a simple white muscle shirt and a pair of knee length black shorts with a pair of black boots and gloves to match. Dressing like a girl was not something she liked doing, she found it pointless to wear a dress when doing so kept you from having any fun.

She was walking with two of her friends close by and the others trailing behind them, taking the lead was something she often did even if she had no idea where she was headed. One out of the three girls in their group walked next to her. Aerieth had long, light brown hair, soft features, wore her hair in a braid down her back with a pink ribbon in it, wore and ink summer dress and boots, and had soft green eyes. Cloud, a guy she had to bully into joining their group; had spiky, sandy blond hair, bright blue eyes, a light tan fit with a few freckles on his face, and was wearing a blue t-shirt and black pants and boots. He was usually very quiet and reserved most of the time, too lost in thought to pay others around him any attention. In the short time they had been friends the quiet blond seemed closer to their soft spoken friend Aerieth.

She looked back to her younger brother when his hand tighten around her own and offered him a gentle smile of reassurance, they were supposed to be meeting their older brother Seime somewhere in the square. Her timid brothers' violet eyes was apprehensive, he always seemed to be nervous around a large crowd of people, not that she could blame him, he was still a little boy and their mother was hardly a shining example of an adult. She pulled free of those thoughts and turned to smile at her friends beside her, "At least it's a nice day out today."

As always she was met with a smile from the more girly member of their group, "Yes it is quite nice out today. The sky is a bit intimidating."

This was also expected; Aerieth seemed to be a bit scared of the open sky for some reason. Even when she asked her why that was and it was explained she couldn't seem to understand why anyone would be afraid of the open sky.

"It stretches on forever and there is so much we don't know about it," her friend tried to explain but Tiffa was still at a loss for what she could possibly mean by that.

Behind them walked a tall, built, blond haired friend, Alex. He was a very new addition to the group and one of the oldest among their friends. It seemed that Roy, their unannounced leader because he was good at giving orders and was sometimes an arrogant prick knew the older guy from where he grew up. Thinking about Bevelle always put her in a bad mood she could care less about that city and their religious rule. He was at the moment making a vain attempt at talking to their other quiet member of the group, Squall who had his nose stuck in a book at the moment. He could be studying any number of things or simply trying to ignore the exuberant, loud, energetic, far too cheerful older guy.

Trailing at the back of their group was the acclaimed leader Roy and his closest and most trusted friend in Zanarkand, Riza. Now Tiffa liked both of them, she really did, it was just that sometimes he could be a jackass and at times Riza seemed a bit cold. She did look up to the older girl however because she was strong, firm, and always in control of herself. She rolled her eyes when she caught wind of what the two were talking about, politics and military things again. It seemed that Mustang was obsessed with all of that nonsense. She looked over to Cloud, she was surprised that as he was the same age as the two would be politicians back there that he never seemed to want to talk to them much. He didn't really talk to anyone much either though and who would want to willingly talk about something as boring as politics anyway?

"They are never going to regain their stability or strength if they continue to allow their government to be run by religious heretics."

His sharp minded friend sighed in exasperation as though what she was going to say next should have been obvious to him. He was grateful he'd chosen to wear khaki shorts and a thin white shirt today. His friend seemed to have the same idea in her attire for the day wearing khaki shorts but with a red T-shirt. Before long he and his friends would be going through puberty which would allow for some very nice changes in everyone around him. With the exception of Alex, who was far too energetic and cheerful all the time. He was here to watch over his younger brothers Ichigo and Ryuo who were currently at the Uchiha temple training.

He knew that while Tiffa and her brother had to meet up with their eldest sibling, Squall needed to meet with his younger brother and his cousin, and Aerieth and Cloud had a destination in mind neither would divulge, he agreed to go with Alex only for the chance to meet with the Uchiha family. They were illustrious and well known and he was often curious about how they were since his own brother was apparently friends with one of the boys from that powerful family.

He came back from his thoughts just as Riza finally spoke; "Should the military rise or merely speak against those that rule their city a civil war may break out."

Roy nodded in agreement, of course he knew that. One of Bevelles' greatest weaknesses was their lack of involving the people in their city in government like Zanarkand did. This grand city he was fortunate enough to have come to live in was much more secure not only in regards to their military and government but they the people were happier and felt safer here. If you did not include those who were living in poverty or abusive homes. Despite the laws about abusive tendencies or actions it did not stop that from occurring. "If a civil war were to break out then maybe the city would fall, at least the government would so that another more capable power could go in and take over."

"That is a bit callous and heartless, the citizens should not suffer just because their government is poorly managed."

Alex chimed in, ''If I may, why would their government not be interested in funding for a upgrade in their military power?"

Roy scoffed, ''Because the religious fools think that their god is enough to save them should any threat come their way. They are putting thousands of lives at risk and they do not even grant those whose lives are at stake the voices to speak against it."

Before anyone else could say another word his cell phone in his pocket started to ring, he pulled it out checked to see who it was then flipped it open and held it to his ear. He did not bother giving a greeting considering who it was and merely listened as his best friend from the very city he was talking about came onto the line.

''Heya Roy, what are you up to?"

"Talking politics. What is it Hues?"

"So very cold you are my friend. I was calling to inquire about a pair of brothers we used to know in this lovely city where I am currently at."

"Is that so, I am hardly friends with those two despite having known their older brother."

"You have always had the knack for making friends that are older than you. How is Alex, I'm sure he found you and provided some usefulness for you?"

"Yes, we are headed that way at the moment. How are things there?"

"The same as usual, though my dear Gracia asks about my little brother."

Roy felt his eyebrow twitch in irritation, "Little brother?"

There was laughter on the other end, "Well you are rather small for a twelve year old, though you definitely act as though you're already seventeen."

"Funny you should mention your own age in comparison to mine."

"Yes, a great deal of fun. How is Zanarkand life treating you?"

"Usually very well until you call."

"Again with the cold shoulder. It is very dull around here without Will around. Perhaps you could keep an eye on those younger Elrics for our lost friend, do something selfless for once."

Roy nodded with a smirk at the teasing tone in his friends voice even as he continued walking. Riza and Alex had walked up next to Squall to give him some privacy. ''I will see what I can do Maes, but I doubt that kid is going to like me whether he remembers who I am or not."

"I doubt he will remember you but they need someone to watch out for them, other than a kid in the same position like Tidus Benshi."

Why wasn't he surprised, "It would figure that you would happen to know more about a kid in a completely different city than I would while in the same city."

His friend laughed once more then said, "Well of course, I'm very good at finding out anything about people but it would be nice to have an extra helping hand. It would be very painful to see that all Will gave up was in vain so I need someone capable watching over the two. I'm sure that Edward will protect Alphonse but . . ."

"Yes, I get your drift, someone needs to look out for Edward."

Hues sighed, ''I have another concern, I believe that he was present when that violence took place. I checked the hospital records, Edward was admitted into the S.T.I.C.U. that night and the only one that knew of his condition were the doctors that operated on him and his best friend Rose Kalendo. They would not tell me what his condition was but it had to be very serious given where he was at the hospital. Speaking of that, we knew through Will that Edward spent a great deal of time as a child in and out of the hospital, have you heard of him being admitted regularly since you arrived in Zanarkand?"

Roy was silent a moment as he took in what his friend was saying. If the young Elric was indeed there the night his brother and mother were killed that would explain his secretive nature and why he had only a few friends he allowed to get close. Friends he seemed confident could handle the way his father was because their home lives were similar to his own. Now him becoming friends with the infamous Benshi brothers made more sense. He thought through what he heard and read in regards to what went on in the city, Edward Elric had a powerful name of his own especially as he was friends with the youngest Benshi son so if he were suddenly admitted to the hospital it would have been announced.

"No, I have yet to hear or see that he was admitted as of late. There was one incident where he was hospitalized but that was shortly after he arrived and before I came to this city so I cannot tell you why."

''That will have to do, just keep an eye out. Someone needs to take over what Will was doing for his family even if only in the sidelines."

"There is no need to tell me five times Maes, I understood you the first time."

"Yes but you are forgetful at times."

''I am offended by that. Pass along my hello to everyone, I need to go, we're coming up to . . .'' He was cut off when a scream followed by an explosion a few blocks up the street broke through the peace of the city. He ignored his friends inquiry of what was wrong and cut him off with, ''Sorry, I'll call you later something is going on.'' Roy hung up the phone and pocketed it then made his way to the front of their group to try and see what was going on. He exchanged glances with the tomboyish girl who was leading their group and then glanced at Riza as the blond haired girl came to stand next to him.

It was as though chaos had reigned in the city, only blocks away a building was cast aflame with smoke filling the sky. He could distantly hear Alex speaking with someone on the phone before the older guy ran off ahead of them. He knew that Tiffa would be going with him if her brother were not holding onto her fearfully. He turned to her, "Try and find your older brother and get Ritsuka to safety before you do anything rash," she nodded her understanding then pulling her brother behind him set off towards the very building that was burning to the ground. He didn't have to turn to Riza for her to know what he was about to say, she nodded and then followed after the black haired girl to try and keep her and her sibling safe.

He had no doubt in his mind that his blond haired friend worried about her brother and his whereabouts in the midst of this horror but she would focus on what she had to do until she could worry about her exuberant brother. He knew his own brothers' location, the Uchiha Temple and turned his gaze upwards to try and see the condition they were in but the smoke building up from the fire blanketed the sky in its dark cloud.

He turned to Aerieth only to see her standing next to Squall who looked far away in another realm, his book having fallen from his hands to the ground at his feet. When he suddenly spoke a question aloud Roy immediately knew who he was communicating with. His younger brother was telepathic and needed no cellular device to communicate with others so it was of little surprise when the other boy turned and ran off in the opposite direction cutting down an alleyway. Not knowing what else there was he could really do he glanced to Aerieth who nodded and then the two followed after the usually silent boy.

He ran across the street before he turned sharply down a back alley where he knew led around the main battleground and would take him through the business district where the small bookstore owned by Jimmy Kudo's parents was. He felt some amount of relief flood through him at the sight of his cousin and his unannounced boyfriend Karama standing outside of the shop guarding it. The two were fourteen and fifteen years old and always seemed to wear clothes that complimented their pale features. Fai had pale blond hair that was light and thin enough to have the wind and sun catch it anywhere and helped his crystal blue eyes stand out. Karama had very vibrant, waist length red hair that he always wore lose and wore a dark pink man's kimono.

Fai's smile eased some of the worry in his heart as he made his way over to them. When he stopped in front of the shop to catch his breath he was tackled by his younger brother Roxas. His soft blond hair all he could see. He heard two more sets of footsteps coming up behind him and glanced back to see Roy and Aerieth had followed him. His brother pulled back a little but he could still feel his form trembling even as he checked over the khaki shorts and white T-shirt he wore for any wounds or injuries.

Placing his hands on his younger siblings shoulders he knelt down before the seven year old and asked, "What's wrong Roxas?"

Roxas sniffed and said in a soft voice, ''I felt them, they were fine and then it was as though they weren't there anymore.''

With a nod he stood up doing nothing to stop his frightened brother from taking his hand he asked of his cousin, "Do you know where they are?"

Fai shook his head with a frown before turning to his boyfriend to ask, "Did you happen to see where they went?"

Karama gave the same response, "I'm afraid not. It was over an hour ago that they left with the Kudo's heading towards the Quest establishment."

Fai nodded to him in thanks before offering his younger cousin a gentle smile, "I'm sure that they are fine given who they are with."

Roxas returned the gentle smile but the squeeze he gave his brothers' hand told that he did not believe the reassurance. They all turned to the dark haired boy in their group when he said, "We should probably get out of here, this is a war zone right now."

Aerieth nodded in agreement, "Yes, it would do very little good for your family to be alright and all of us to not be," she received a smile of gratitude for her choice of words when the youngest among them nodded with a brighter smile.

As they turned to move away from the carnage that was starting to cast this part of the city into a hellfire Roy leapt through them without warning and a snap echoed down the street. An explosion of fire had engulfed the shop where they had just been standing and the other was trying to keep the fire at bay. Karama and Fai leapt to his side to assist him even as the magician of the three shouted over his shoulder, "Get out of here you three," his voice strained with the energy it took to try and keep what would have taken their lives from reaching them. He was pulled from his shock at the very close call when his hand was tugged on by his brother and the other was grasped by Aerieth.

He nodded and the three ran off down the street to try and escape the flames only to have their path block when another building was engulfed in flames, it was as though someone was firing missiles into the city. They were knocked off their feet by the impact and instinctively he had tucked his brother close to him to protect him. Before a breath could be taken there was a deafening sound overhead followed by the scream of his friend before their world was cast in darkness and dust. It took a long time for his senses to return and only the shouting of familiar voices and the stirring of the person in his arms pulled him back to the present.

It was gray all around, dark, gray, and filthy, looking around him he noticed that they were trapped under the rubble of a building. The air was stifling and thick with smoke and dust. He tried to move only to have agony lance its way through his entire body centering on his legs and making his lungs constrict in his chest. If his legs were injured then his brother could very well be injured, looking down at the mop of blond hair on his chest he was grateful that only the lower half of his legs seemed to be under the rubble around him saving his brother from being buried. He shook his brother, "Roxas, are you alright?"

The smaller boy shifted causing the elder to grit his teeth and swallow down a groan of pain as another wave passed over him. He looked down as the head resting on his chest moved to gaze at him, "I'm alright."

"Can you move?"

There was some more shifting but it seemed as though the younger of the two was able to move more freely. He managed to maneuver off of his elder sibling even in the cramped space around them. Squall turned his head to regard his brother checking him over as much as he could noticing only a few scrapes marring his cheeks and his arms but otherwise no further injuries. That was good, at least his brother was alright. There wasn't enough room to stand or even sit in the space they were granted but the blond moved away from him sending him a silent message that he was going to try and find a way out.

He watched after him until he could no longer see him and shifted to try and moved his arms and sit up a little to try and figure out how badly hurt his legs were. The piece of rubble laying across his calves and feet was large, too large and heavy to be moved by himself or with the help of his brother. He was officially trapped and while he wanted the luxury of being scared he glanced back the way his brother had gone and could only focus on him. "Roxas? Roxas where are you?"

A few moments of silence followed before his brother responded, "There's an opening ahead of me, I can see light. I'm going to get closer and try to call out for help."

He was going to protest, didn't want to be left alone trapped down here but he held his tongue, if his brother got out of this then that was better than anything and more important than however long he would end up being left down here alone. Only he shouldn't be alone, Aerieth was with them when they were buried in this rubble. Where was she, was she alright, he started calling out for her, trying to decipher where she was and if she was hurt. It took a great deal of effort to shout himself hoarse but it paid off when he heard her voice.

"I'm here, I'm okay just trapped. How are you and Roxas?"

"Roxas went to get some help. I'm trapped too-" he was cut off from speaking anymore when a loud, thunderous rumble shook everything around them. Looking up he inhaled sharply as the small space around him was quickly closed off by even more rubble falling around and in on itself. Another building or the remainder of the one they were already trapped under must have collapsed. The smoke was suffocating and using his arms he covered his head and turned his head away from the spray of rocks and debris. It seemed to take an eternity for it to end and more torment followed its onslaught. He felt more of his legs trapped under an incredible weight and let out a painful cry when something struck through his stomach with sharp precision.

He could hear Aerieth screaming but was blind to all else but the agony coursing through him to understand what was causing her to scream. Just when he was sure the torture would never end a voice spoke into his mind, the frantic fear in the tone of voice ceasing all worry for his own well being; 'Brother, I can't find you. More of the building fell and Fai and Karama won't let me come back to you. It's scary up here, there are guys in black cloaks everywhere and I . . . '

"ROXAS," he cried frantically shifting to try and get up despite the pain and thus making his injuries worse. "ROXAS!" His brother had to hear him, he always heard him, why had his suddenly cut off like that? Where was he, what had happened? "ROXAS! ROXAS ANSWER ME!"

His efforts were draining what energy he had but he didn't care, where was his brother, why did he have to become even more trapped? Where was his brother?

Roy was at a loss for what to do, everyone he had been with was gone, disappeared as though into thin air in the chaos of the collapsing building and the destruction all around. The air permeated with death so suffocating it was a wonder than anyone could draw breath but his body did so automatically. His head was throbbing from striking it on the ground when he was shoved out of the way of the falling building by the older magician but he had not seen him or his red haired friend since. He sat up from where he was thrown back by the aftershock of more collapsing structure falling onto the pile of destruction only a few feet from where he was.

Coughing to try and dislodge the smoke from his lungs he wiped at his head wincing when his forehead stung with the action and pulling his hand away to see his own crimson blood on his hand. Brushing his fingers through his hair he forced himself onto unsteady feet and looked around once again. He could have sworn he'd heard screaming of shouting from the pile of rubble in front of him. Before he could take a step forward a voice shouted his name and he turned to see Riza, Alex, and an older guy he knew to be Tye because of the older teenagers' popularity. They were all covered in scrapes, bruises, cuts, and dust much like that he was covered in from head to toe.

"Is anyone down in that," the older one asked of him.

He wasn't sure but he nodded, "I think so, I could have sworn I heard someone shouting before that other building fell on top of it."

"Fuck," the brunet swore under his breath. He looked around and took notice of the destruction and carnage around them and then turned back to Roy to ask, "Who were you with?"

"Myself and Aerieth had followed after our friend Squall to try and get to his younger brother Roxas-"

"Roxas Leonhart, the telepathic kid?"

"Yes," Riza interrupted, "Given that Roxas was not with his elder brother their cousin Fai would have been there with him."

"Yes as well as his friend Karama."

"Karama was more than Fai's friend," Tye commented before running a blood stained hand through his bangs making them stand up even more. He took a deep breath, "Alright then," he turned to regard Alex, "You focus on getting these two to safety and anyone else you can find. I'm going to check this for those that are missing. I'm counting on you to keep everyone safe."

"Of course Tyereke," Roy stepped back when the far too large for his actual age blond turned to him, "Let us be going then."

Before he could protest Riza had grabbed his arm and he was being pulled along behind the two. He cast a glance over his shoulder to the one they were leaving behind. Instincts were telling him to stay behind with him but he couldn't place why that was. He was a novice alchemist at best and everyone knew that Tye was no novice in nearly everything that didn't have to do with music, art, or public speaking. He reluctantly turned away when he saw a flash of red and heard his blond haired friend say softly to him, "That is Angela, I'm sure things will be just fine with those two working together."

He turned sharply where he stood having felt an all too familiar and sinister presence approaching him and Angela. He could hardly turn very much as deep into the rubble as he was but his head had turned. Sharp green eyes locked with his despite the rubble blocking their path and in a blink she was gone, he could feel her energy moving away from him. This was a helpful skill he had spent a great deal of time training to gain, filling out the energy of others. He knew he was getting close to one of those trapped in this hell and once he reached him he could move him to safety and return to get the other child trapped in this.

He just had to hope that the love of his life could stand her own long enough against his uncle for him to save the lives of those trapped down here. He let out a sigh of relief when he felt the energy of his best friend and a few others overhead and turned his focus back to his task. Crawling, clawing, pushing and pulling his way through the maze of metal rods, cement, concrete, and brick he managed to get to one of his charges. He swore as he saw how he was trapped, a large piece of rubble covered his legs and it looked as though one of the beams had impaled him through the midsection. He could tell that it was only a part of a beam but just as sharp and lethal. It was going to take some very careful work to get this kid out and he would need a healer immediately.

He could train and practice and study all he wanted, healing was not something he was good at. That was Angela's expertise, damn it would be nice if he was telepathic then he could have her come down here and help him. He put his hands palm down on the ground right next to Squall and concentrated, imagining the kid in his arms and having to draw out a lot of energy before his image was realty. The cry of agony ripped from the kids throat was choked as it echoed around them. Thinking of the open sky above him he was gone above ground in a short moment.

He froze in calling out for his girlfriend when he felt a sharp tug at his chest from the inside and a flare of negative energy before what was once his angel's life force faded from his detection. He tightened his hold of the unconscious kid in his arms and through his determination to save his life he forced himself to turn away and not run to her aid. He had to run quickly to find a medic just outside the scene of destruction to hand the kid over to. Just before he was going to rush back to his loves' side he heard a scream that was distinctively hers and ignored the shout of a familiar boyish voice calling after him.

This was hell that was the only way to describe it. How his best friend managed to drag him off to this battle zone was beyond him but when the loud cry escaped his friends' throat he knew why then. They weren't here to play hero's or engage in the fight they were here because neither one of them could stand to be on the side lines waiting for news of what was going on. The square was nothing but fire, destruction, and death in every corner. Not only were children and entire families in the midst of this they were losing their best fighters and warriors in this terrible catastrophe.

All he could do was run after Tidus as he plunged head long into the war zone ahead of them and hope he had the strength to do something. Maybe his alchemy could help or possibly the strength he had acquired because of the automail could pull some poor soul from the ruins around them. As he followed blindly into the clouds of smoke and dust he had a sinking feeling there was little either of them could regardless of their intentions or determination.

It wasn't long before they came to a large pile of rubble and their path was blocked by an older kid, someone his friend seemed to know given the glare he was giving the other. He ran over to join the two just catching the end of what the elder was saying; " . . . be here, get out of here before you get hurt kiddo."

"Go to hell Johny, I have friends and family out in this shit. I have to do something!"

"What can you do? Right now we don't need more lives to worry about-"

The older blond was cut off when what Ed recognized to be Nate called out to him; "A.J. said that Aerieth is still trapped in that rubble. Take care of her and I will look after him."

A pained expression passed over Johny's face as he turned back to them, "Fine, you two can help me get Aerieth to safety then."

"Something happened, I could see it on A.J.'s face and hear it in Nate's voice."

"T. Right now we need to focus on saving that girl's life. Save the bad news for when you three are safe and sound alright?"

"Fine, but only because of this Aerieth girl."

Johny nodded to him and Ed shoved his friend in the shoulder to get him moving behind their older companion. Now really wasn't the time to be standing around arguing anyway. They had a mission to do and a life to save. But he could admit his friend was right about what he had said now that he thought back on the expression on Tye's face, or as those close to him referred to him A.J. Nate had also sounded tormented and in the midst of grieving but like some of the strongest they were still fighting to defend the city anyway.

They had to go around the rubble to try and avoid any more of it caving in on itself. They walked around to the northern reach of it before locating a way in but of course the hole was too small for either of the two he was with so he was volunteered to go in first. He was told to be extremely careful and despite the urgency to take him time moving around.

"Don't use any alchemy to try and shift anything around or move it, you could cause a cave in."

"I'm not an idiot, if it's too unstable to even walk on then there's no way I would risk using alchemy to make it more unstable," he replied haughtily feeling a bit offended by the common knowledge advice. Any alchemist knew to watch their surroundings before performing alchemy and he wasn't any different. He took a deep breath and got down on his hands and knees before crawling forward to shimmy down into the hole, it was a slow process and after going only a few feet in he found his path blocked. Looking around in the crammed space he was given he noticed that there was a big enough hole that he could squeeze through to his left but he was likely to end up with some cuts given the beam and copper poles sticking out in every different direct through that path.

Checking around him again he couldn't find another passageway so he inched his way towards that small opening. As he pulled and pushed his way through he forced himself to ignore the slices through his clothes and skin that tugged at him. His left leg got caught on one of the sharp pieces but he pulled and let out a low hiss as the metal cut deep into the outer part of his thigh. He finally came to a bit of a clearing that allowed for some acutely better breathing only to have any easy access paths blocked. Taking in a deep breath he called out the name of the girl he was searching for. He stayed where he was calling her name for a few minutes until he heard something over to his right. It was muffled and strained but it was something and told him which way he needed to go.

"Hello, Aerieth keep talking to me so I can get to you alright?"

He crawled and clawed his way towards her voice pausing as his path was blocked to push on a few rocks to test whether they were lose enough to move. Luckily he came across some just a little to the left and managed to pull them free without causing what was overhead to creak or whine in warning of another cave in. He kept telling her to talk to him, asking what injuries she had, how old she was, if she had any family members, anything to keep her talking and awake. He knew from experience that if someone had internal injuries you had to keep them awake or they could end up dying that much faster than they could trapped in this labyrinth.

As he cleared more rubble and rocks away and finally made a clearing that allowed him to keep moving forward towards her he learned that she had a sister. Her name was Sakura and she was very sweet. She had a caring mother and father, he told her she was lucky for that so many were not so fortunate. She agreed with him telling him that a good friend of hers had a schizophrenic mother and a negligent father. He asked more about that friend, still clawing his way towards her, she must be deep he thought to himself because her voice was still muffled.

"She is really strong and protects her younger brother who is a very sweet boy but independent and outspoken when he wants to be. They have an elder brother that takes care of them both more than their mom does."

"That's good, seems to be a fashion for the older siblings to look after their younger ones."

"Yes, what about you, do you have any brothers' or sisters?"

"I do," he said with a grunt as he shoved a rock blocking his way aside. Another cut was added to his amassing number as a sharp part of some concrete slab scraped along his face and then his arm and leg as he kept moving towards her. "I had an older brother but he passed away. Now it's just me and my kid brother Al, we're pretty close though."

"What about your parents, are they nice."

"My mom was when she was alive, but my old man is an asshole. Al doesn't think so but I know different."

"Hmm, that sounds a bit secretive, siblings shouldn't keep secrets from each other."

He had to use his arms to pull himself through another opening and paused to catch his breath and look around for another opening; "Yeah well sometimes it s better to keep a few secrets if it saves them any pain."

"But it will cause them more pain in the long run when they learn that you were suffering and lying to them about it."

He had never thought of it that way but he would rather keep Al in the dark about the true nature of their father than risk him ever being hurt by the bastard. "How hurt are you, what aches or whatever?"

"Well my head is pounding and my chest hurts but I believe that is because I've been down here breathing in this dust for so long. I can't tell anymore what hurts, everything feels mostly numb. I am indefinitely trapped however, can't move more than my hands."

"Well keep moving your hands to try and keep your blood circulating and don't close your eyes."

"Okay . . . " he paused at hearing some coughing and a faint whimper of pain. Whoever this girl was she was brave and much stronger than she sounded. He had to be nuts to be down here, he was a damn kid himself but he was burrowing through all of this thinking he could make a difference. He pulled himself through the narrow passage and asked of her to try and figure out how much further he had to go; "How about you tell me what your other friends are like?"

"What makes you think I have a lot of friends?"

"You sound too nice not to."

"Thank you for the compl-" another fit of coughs then, "iment. There is Cloud, he is very quiet and reserved but he is also strong and kind hearted. He is my cousin as well but my parents nor my other cousin Gippal's would adopt him when his parents died so he lives at the orphanage. He lies that he is going to one of the Dojo's so he can spend time with all of us even though he isn't very social."

"Sounds like the exact opposite of my best friend."

"I'm sorry to ask this so late but who are you?"

She was only a few more feet away but he could not see her yet, he had to worm his way through and around some beams and rusted bars to get closer to her; "My name is Ed."

"Ed? As in Edward Elric?"

"Yes, don't sound so surprised."

"I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting you to come down here and rescue me."

"Well I was sent down here by Johny, whoever he is. T. knows him so I guess I can trust that guy."

"Oh, that's right your best friends with Tidus Benshi. That makes it easier to understand why you feel so much resentment towards your father."

He had just managed to see a bit of pink amongst the thousands of pounds of rubble when he froze at her words. How in the world-"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm not so blind that I don't see what Tidus and his brother must go through every day. My friend Tiffa doesn't have a very pleasant home life either after all," she paused to cough once again, this time sounded more worn out and ragged than before now that he was closer. He had to crawl towards her and she offered him a smile as he came before her. "You're all dusty and dirty I can't tell what color your hair really is."

He smiled at that, here he was trying to save her life and she was insulting him about the dirt and dust covering him from head to toe. "Yeah well it's not a palace down here," he looked at everything that was burying her and moved down to where he guessed her legs were to test the rocks. Most of them were just medium sized rocks that had to weigh a tone laying on top of one another so it was easy enough to move them. Once he managed to remove the cement and concrete slabs covering her lower half he noticed the dried blood covering her dress and her legs and let out a sympathetic hiss.

"They really don't hurt very much, but now that the air has hit them once more I think I feel a bit of soreness in my back."

He moved around her legs to look to where she had mentioned and inhaled sharply making him cough because of the diluted and dusty air around them. She a rod sticking out of her back which was most likely where most of the blood on her dress had to have come from. This was going to be really challenging. It took him a good hour of digging before he managed to clear the rest of the debris that was holding her trapped because he had to be careful of the rod impaling her. It was at an angle but had missed her spine but not her kidney or her intestine. She had to be really hurting, or was before her body had gone numb under the pressure of the cement and concrete that had buried her.

He could use alchemy to break off the pieces of the metal rod enough so that he could move her a bit but he was no medic or doctor in the slightest. Somehow he had to get her out of here but how could he move her when she had that kind of injury? There was a high level of alchemy that he knew was in the back of his mind and counted as human transmutation that he could use to heal her but that could go terribly wrong. He knew that very well and his left leg throbbed as if casting a reminder. He sighed heavily and brushed his hand tiredly through his hair. His skin was coated in damp sweat which made the dirt, dust, and debris around him cling to his skin like a coat. He had to be down here for hours already and she had to have been down here for hours more.

"Now that you have managed to get me untrapped perhaps you could find your way back and call someone that could help me."

"That's not an option, I'm not leaving you down here by yourself. This could all collapse and then my freeing you would be pointless. Not to mention, there's no guarantee I would be able to find you again or make it back in time with how hurt you are."

"This isn't all that horrible-"

"Yes it is, you have internal injuries because of the pressure of the rubble that fell on top of you. You definitely have a concussion, are dehydrated, and that metal rod in you pierced through your intestine and your kidney."

"Are you sure you're not a medic?"

"Yes, I just know the human anatomy really well."

"Okay, well I will trust you to get us both out of here safely then."

He nodded and shifted to lay on his back and try to look up, there was a bit of light about twenty feet up. This small enclosed space was way too small to maneuver freely in, but if there was an exit above them . . . he shifted again moving into as much of a kneeling position as he could. That hole above them was small but he could make it bigger and there shouldn't be anyone else down here right? If the rest of this collapsed around them but not on top of them then they could get out of here. He could make a tunnel that went straight up out of all this material around him.

"Do you think anyone else is down here?"

"I'm certain there isn't, not anyone that is alive unfortunately. I spent most of my time calling out for anyone else. I think Squall made it out alright and something happened to Roxas after he got out of here."

"Okay then, I'm going to get us out of here then," he moved himself closer to her so that he didn't have to worry about her possibly being caught by a backlash or any of the debris collapsing on top of her. He gave himself just enough space to work without casting her inside the circle he was going to make and closed his eyes to focus. He had to picture what he planned to create before he could build it and he ran through the material around him, metal, copper, aluminum, steel, concrete made of sand, rocks, glue, tar, cement made of water, sand, dirt, rocks, shells, wood and nails, glass made of very finely ground crystal and diamonds.

He clapped his hands together and pulled the energy to his center before pushing it through to his finger tips and the palms of his hands feeding it into the ground under his hands. He could taste the electric current in the air, crisp as though lightning had struck and thick with power as it stirred and crackled around him. He could hardly hear anything more than the energy circling and building around him. But it was loud none the less, the way everything shifted and moved and melded together. Once the tunnel was made they would have to move fast, it wouldn't hold long.

He pushed more energy into the ground to build it higher to use the metal components around him to hold the cement and the concrete in place and to provide a way for them to climb up. He kept going until he felt it tug one last time signaling to his brain that his image was created. Opening his eyes and pulling his hands away he took in a deep breath of fresh air and looked around him. Only the tunnel constructed like a well surrounded the two of them and the ladder that stretched up to the open sky did not lead to a clear one. There was smoke thick in the air and even as far down from the surface as they were he could tell that even more suffering and death awaited them up there.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine," he hoped that his careless best friend was alright wherever the hell he was. He turned back to her, this was going to cause her a lot of discomfort but unless someone sent something to help him out he had no choice. "Alright, you're going to have to hold on to my neck so I can carry you out of here. It's going to hurt you with that injury-"

"That's alright, let's just get out of here alive. Thank you very much."

"Don't thank me yet," he moved to kneel down in front of her and helped her sit up enough to put her arms around his neck. He could pretty much expect that the rod stabbed through her might decide to stab right through his back or push itself out but if they were lucky it would just shift a bit. He moved slowly to stand up, he was really fortunate to be stronger than most his age because of the automail at this moment because she wasn't that heavy. As long as she could manage to hold on they would make it out of this mess.

He walked over to the ladder he had transmuted into the tunnel wall and pulled himself up apologizing for the whine that passed through his companions lips from the movement and started to make his way up. It was long, grueling, and tiring but when they made it outside he was never so grateful to see a battleground in all his life. Enclosed spaces would forever bother him, too exposing and vulnerable, too many shadows and secrets and dangers around him that he wouldn't notice until it was too late. They had just made it to safe and sturdy ground when the debris they had just escaped crumbled in on itself. He scanned his surroundings but couldn't see anyone around them.

Damn it all, where the hell was everyone? He needed some help moving Aerieth to safety and he was worried about his idiot best friend. He looked up at the sound of shouting and let out a sigh of relief as he held Aerieth upright when he noticed the medics making their way down the cracked and up heaved sidewalk littered with pieces of rubble. Once he was certain the person he was sent into an underground maze was going to be alright with the medics he stood and ran off through the torn apart city in search of his friend ignoring any of the shouts for him to come back to safety. He had to know that Tidus was alright no matter what hell he managed to stumble across on the way.

_To Be Continued . . ._


End file.
